


Along The Way

by mogirl97



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, College, F/M, leap year au, sort of but not really, strangers to friends to maybe something more?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-08-07 06:42:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7704412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mogirl97/pseuds/mogirl97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity's travel plans were going perfectly until... they weren't. To get to Massachusetts for one of the most important interviews of her life, she'll need a little help from a stranger. This little detour might be exactly the thing she didn't know she needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I really wanted to write something fluffy and fun after The Offer which was a great challenge to write but a bit tiring with all that angst and you guys voted for a road trip au on my twitter poll, so here it is :) This fic is very, VERY loosely based on the film Leap Year (which I highly recommend watching if you haven't). I would actually say it's more inspired by the film, because it's definitely not a parallel AU. Also, as a heads up, most of the locations in this fic are fictional because I didn't want to try and describe places I've never been to and then randomly have a reader who's from there be like, ummm that's not what it's like at all lol. Anyway, I'll stop rambling now so you can get to reading, I hope you enjoy the story!

**SATURDAY**

“No, no, no, no…” Felicity shook her head as the words  _ FLIGHT CANCELLED  _ flashed on the screen in front of her. “This cannot be happening,” she muttered to herself.

Turning her head to look around the small airport she spotted an older gentleman who had fallen asleep on a bench down the hallway, a mom talking to someone on the phone while attempting to calm a crying baby, the group of Girl Scouts who had been on the plane with her with their assorted camping gear, a guy in a wrinkled business suit pacing along a wall and checking his phone every fifteen seconds, and one very bored looking woman sitting at a desk idly flipping through a tattered copy of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine and eating Cheetos.

_ Where in the world had she landed? _

**6 Hours Earlier….**

“Are you sure you have everything you need?”

Her mom’s voice filtered in from the hallway as she checked her plane tickets and itinerary one last time before slipping them into her backpack.

“Yes Mom!” she hollered back.

“It just makes me so nervous to have you traveling so far on your own….”

Felicity rolled her eyes. She knew how to take care of herself, she had been doing it practically her entire life. Endless nights had been spent home alone, cooking herself dinner, figuring out her homework on her own, attempting to keep the tiny apartment clean, and tinkering with her computer, while her mom worked overtime shifts.

If all went as planned, this trip would secure the last scholarship she needed to be able to attend MIT in the fall and then her mom wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore.

And this trip  _ needed _ to go as planned. She had scraped together the last of her savings and bought the cheapest plane tickets possible to get her to Massachusetts for the crucial, final interview and an inexpensive Airbnb rental. Failure to get accepted for the scholarship program would send her back to square one with no plan for what she was going to do for college and no money.

Not for the first time in her life had she wished that her father was around while she was preparing for her interview. Her mom had tried to help but the technical jargon had gone over her head and she’d quickly moved on to “more pressing matters,” like what she was going to wear for said interview.

She seriously doubted that the committee in charge of interviewing the applicants would care if she wore her blue blouse and pencil skirt versus her red dress and polka dot cardigan.

Besides, she was thinking of reinventing herself a little bit once she got to college.

Holding up a lock of her mousy brown hair and inspecting her reflection in the mirror she envisioned how it would look dyed darker. Maybe some purple streaked through it too...

Checking the time, she realized that she should have left three minutes and twenty-two seconds ago for the airport and she grabbed her new leather jacket--- well,  _ new to her _ , one day she was going to be able to afford clothes that didn’t come from the thrift store, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and wheeled her small carry-on suitcase out into the hallway.

“I’m heading out!” she yelled in the general direction of the bathroom where she could smell hairspray emanating from.

“Wait, wait, wait---“ Her mom walked out, still in the process of getting ready, with half of her hair curled and teased and the other half flat. “Let me give you a hug before you go baby.”

She stepped into her mom’s arms for a crushing hug. “It’s only a few days, I’m not leaving forever,” Felicity reminded her as she refused to let go.

_ “Not leaving forever yet,” she corrected silently to herself. _

“I know, I know.” Donna took a step back and Felicity adjusted her backpack strap while her mom kept talking. “I just can’t believe you’re growing up, I mean, eighteen already where did the time go? I’m not ready to think about losing you yet and what am I going to do here all by myself? And I---”

“I’ll call when I get there,” Felicity interrupted her, feeling the minutes tick away and her urgency to get to the airport increase. “Love you. Bye!”

Dashing out the door, suitcase in tow, she walked quickly down the street, arriving at the bus stop just as the next bus that would take her to the airport was pulling in. Off to a good start, hopefully the rest of her travels would go smoothly.

A direct flight from Las Vegas to the airport in Boston had been far too expensive for her, so she had managed to find an obscure route of connecting flights that kept the cost way down. Of course that meant stopping in some small towns that she had never even heard of, but the layovers weren’t too long and, as long as she ended up in Cambridge in time for her interview, she didn’t care what the traveling entailed.

She got through security without a hitch, and even though she had gotten to the airport later than she had planned, she still had some time to kill before she would board for her first flight. Once she found a seat in her terminal, she pulled her laptop out of her backpack and worked on some coding.

A little less than an hour later she found herself seated on the plane next to a woman who proceeded to share her entire (and highly dramatized if Felicity had to guess) life story with her for the two hours that they were in the air.

It was a good reminder of why she didn’t watch reality tv.

She was relieved that Colorado was her seatmate’s final destination and that there was no risk of being stuck with her when she boarded the tiny plane that was going to take her to a small town in Oklahoma where she would make her last exchange onto the plane that would take her to Massachusetts.

Or at least it was supposed to have taken her to Massachusetts… before the flight was cancelled and she found herself walking over to the Cheetos eating lady at the desk. 

The woman didn’t even acknowledge her arrival and Felicity spoke up, “Excuse me…”

Dropping her magazine on the desk, the woman looked up at her with an exasperated expression, “Can I help you?”

“Um yeah… I, uh---“ Felicity was flustered for a moment by the woman’s rudeness but she gathered her thoughts quickly, “My 9:32pm flight to Boston was cancelled and I was wondering if there was going to be any other flights there in the next couple of hours that I could exchange my ticket for?”

An incredulous look passed over the woman’s face and she started laughing hysterically. The sound caught the attention of every person in the small space and Felicity looked around sheepishly, wondering if someone with a hidden camera was going to pop out and provide an explanation for whatever the frack was going on.

Finally the woman regained her composure, an amused smile still on her face, and refocused back on Felicity, “Oh honey. Where do you think you are? LAX? We only run about 7 commercial flights a week.  With that flight cancelled…” She checked a pad of paper sitting on the desk, “…there’s nothing going out of here for another six days.”

Her interview was in four.

Tears threatened to escape and Felicity swallowed hard to keep herself from falling apart in public. “What am I supposed to do?” she asked in a small, quiet voice. “I  _ need _ to get to Boston. Is there a place I could rent a car or something?”

She should’ve just driven to Massachusetts in the first place, but with her apparent luck her car probably would have broken down and left her stranded on the side of the road somewhere.

The amused smile slid from the woman’s face and it was replaced with a look that she supposed was sympathy. She shook her head, “No, I’m sorry honey. I really wish that I could do something for you, but I can transfer your ticket to the next flight out and this isn’t the worst town to be stranded in for a few days…”

Somehow she doubted that.

_ Where even was she again? _

“…Willowdale isn’t big but it’s not  _ exactly _ the middle of nowhere. We have some cute guys too.” The woman added with a wink.

_ Well that’s comforting _ , she thought to herself sarcastically.

The woman returned to her Cheetos and magazine and Felicity figured that was her cue to leave her alone.

Stepping away from the desk, her attempts to keep herself from bursting into tears in public were starting to fail. Exhaustion was setting in from the day of traveling and she couldn’t decide if she should go out and explore her options in the town or just crash on the floor in the airport.

One look at the dingy tile below her feet and she was heading for the door.

Naturally, it was raining outside. Because why wouldn’t it be raining?

On the bright side, people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between raindrops and her tears.

Everything was supposed to have gone as planned,  _ everything was going as planned _ , and yet here she was, stranded, with no idea how she was supposed to get to MIT in time for the interview that her entire future hung on the balance of. 

She would find a way, she had to find a way, but right now she was too tired and too emotional to form any sort of plan.  

Stuffing her leather jacket into her backpack to keep it from getting damaged by the rain, she started walking down the sidewalk. Most of the street was dark at 9:17pm, but she could see a building lit up in the distance and kept moving towards it.

By the time she arrived at the source of the light, a small diner, she was soaked completely through and desperate for some reprieve from the rain. The neon open sign flickered welcomingly and she pushed the door open, a tinkling bell announcing her entrance.

Looking around, it didn’t seem like anyone was working but the place was dry so, until someone came around and kicked her out, she was staying. She took a seat at the counter and rested her head on her forearms, letting the sobs she had been trying to hold in finally wrack her body.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there until she heard a voice.

“Uhhh miss? We’re closed…” 

When she looked up she was met by a handsome face with bright blue eyes that grew shadowed with concern as he took in the disaster that she could only imagine her face looked like with her wet hair plastered to her forehead, her glasses askew on the top of her head, and eyes tired from crying.

Lifting a hand to wipe her eyes, she sniffled and replied weakly, “The open sign was on.”

He glanced over at the door and shook his head, muttering to himself, “He told me he was going to take care of locking up…”

She watched him as he walked over and switched off the glowing sign. If she had to guess, she would say that he was probably a few years older than her. A slightly wrinkled, white t-shirt was a contrast against tanned, strong arms and there were various stains all down the front of his apron. His hair was a little messy and looked like it was in need of a cut that he couldn’t be bothered with but it really only added to the effortlessly handsome appearance he was pulling off quite well.

Well, the lady at the airport definitely wasn’t lying about the cute guys. At the very least, there was one in this town.

For a brief moment she thought that he looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t figure out why. Realizing that there was basically zero chance that she had ever met him, she dismissed the thought.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” he asked, glancing back at her before pulling a set of keys out of his pocket and locking the front door.

A small laugh escaped her at his inquiry. She was feeling about a million miles from home.

“No. I’m not supposed to be here,” she answered with a shake of her head.

She thought she heard him mutter, “That makes two of us.” But she couldn’t be sure.

He walked back behind the counter and she bit her lip nervously, waiting for him to kick her out.

“Don’t worry, I’m not making you go back out in the rain,” he reassured her, almost as if he had read her thoughts. “I’m just doing some prep work for tomorrow. It’s nice and warm in the kitchen if you want to come hang out…”

His voice trailed off as he disappeared into what she assumed was the kitchen.

A small part of her said that maybe she should just go find a hotel or some other place to stay the night instead of wasting time here, but she was cold and disinterested in wandering through the unfamiliar streets in the dark. Maybe cute guy could point her in the right direction when he left for the night.

Slipping off of the stool, she walked over to the kitchen door and tentatively pushed it open. Delicious smells hit her nose and the heat emanating from the stove and ovens wrapped her up in a warm hug.

Cute guy was hovering over a cutting board, bowls full of neatly chopped vegetables on the counter beside him, as he diced tomatoes.

He looked up at her arrival and smiled, tipping his head in the direction of a stool, “You can sit there if you want. Are you hungry? There’s some leftover chocolate cake from today and, not to brag, but I made it and it’s pretty good.”

She returned his smile, “I would love some.”

Her stomach echoed her answer with a growl and he chuckled as he wiped his hands on his apron and walked over to one of the fridges. Pulling out a tray containing the cake, he cut her a large slice and dusted it with powdered sugar before handing it to her with a fork.

As soon as the plate was in her hands, she dug in hungrily, licking the chocolate icing from her lips and humming in approval, “The best cake I’ve ever had. Granted, I haven’t eaten in…. almost 5 hours now I think, but still, it’s perfect.”

“Thank you.” Returning to his workstation, he spoke up again a minute later, “So what’s your name?”

“Felicity. Felicity Smoak.”

“Felicity,” he repeated and she decided that she quite liked the way he said her name, the way he took his time on each syllable. “You want to tell me why you were crying earlier?”

She tilted her head, “Shouldn’t you tell me your name first?”

“Oliver.” An unreadable expression passed over his face. “Just Oliver.”

“Well, Oliver---“ She sighed, “It’s kind of a long story.”

He jerked his thumb at the stove behind him, “I’ve got a sauce, two soups, and plenty of chopping to finish. If you need to talk about it, I’ve got time to listen.”

It probably would help her figure out what she should do next if she recounted the events that had left her stranded in middle-of-nowhere, USA. Plus, Oliver seemed like he might be able to be more comforting than the woman at the airport. The cake had definitely already made her feel better.

And so, she launched into the story of how she was being considered for a full scholarship to MIT. How she had scoured the internet for this random flight itinerary to travel extremely cheaply because the final phase of her application was an in-person interview in Massachusetts. An interview that under no circumstance could be rescheduled or done via Skype as the bold print in the letter had made clear. How she should have been in the air at the moment, but the flight that was meant to be the final leg of her journey had gotten canceled, leaving her stranded here in Oklahoma. A long way from Boston. He listened quietly, occasionally turning to stir something on the stove or walking over to pull baked goods from the large oven. She had a feeling that she might have lost him a bit when she went off on a tangent about the software she designed that had caught the board at MIT’s eye, but she appreciated that he at least made an effort to seem interested.

“I just really, really need everything to work out with this scholarship,” she concluded, glancing at the stove clock and realizing she had been babbling on for almost an hour. “Attending MIT is my dream, the key to my future, and I’m so afraid that I’m going to end up a cocktail waitress in Vegas like my mom with no way out if I miss this opportunity. So, tomorrow I guess I’m going to try and figure out what my options are. Thankfully, because of how my flights worked out, I was supposed to have had some extra days to spend time touring the town around the college and the interview itself isn’t until Wednesday, so I still have some time to figure out how to get there in time for what matters. Right now I just want to sleep and pretend this day didn’t happen.”

He frowned sympathetically, “I’m sorry. That’s got to be a stressful predicament to be in, I hope you’re able to sort things out in the morning. You want to peel some potatoes? It can be quite therapeutic…”

She shrugged, “Why not? Although I have to warn you, my cooking experience is pretty much limited to coffee, microwaving ramen noodles, and opening cartons of take-out.”

He laughed, “Well I assure you, you can’t screw this up too badly. They don’t have to look pretty either, because they’re going to be mashed potatoes tomorrow.”

Accepting a bag of potatoes from him, she watched as he gave a quick demonstration of how to use the peeler most efficiently before handing it to her so she could get to work. While she didn’t find it as soothing as typing out long strings of code, it did help keep her mind occupied from focusing on how all her carefully laid plans were crumbling around her. 

“So… do you know where you’re going to sleep tonight?” he asked hesitantly, breaking the silence that had settled over the kitchen while they worked.

She looked up at him, “A hotel?”

“Uhhh…”

“There are no hotels here,” she deadpanned.

“Oh no, there’s one, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a little… questionable.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Are you suggesting that I curl up in one of the booths out there?”

“No… But you could stay at my place,” he offered. “I have a sleeper sofa.”

Her “stranger danger” warning bells, that her mom had ingrained in her from when she was young and had to spend a lot of time unsupervised due to her crazy work hours, went off at his suggestion. Probably a little later than they should have, seeing as she had already been alone with him for over an hour.

“I just met you though,” she pointed the potato peeler at him. “What if you’re planning on luring me back to where your murder weapons are?”

He laughed, “Why would I have wasted a perfectly good piece of chocolate cake on someone that I was going to kill in their sleep?”

She held in her own laugh and narrowed her eyes at him skeptically, “Serial killers aren’t rational.”

He rolled his eyes, “You can take your chances with the Motel 6 or my apartment, it’s up to you. But I promise I’m harmless.”

She smiled teasingly, “Alright. I guess I believe you.”  

After twenty-five minutes of more work, Oliver announced that he was finished and he showed her where to put her peeled potatoes before she grabbed her suitcase from where she had left it out in the main dining room, he hung his apron on a hook, and they headed out for the night. It turned out that he walked to work because his apartment was only a block away, so they made their way down the quiet sidewalk under the light of the stars and a few dim street lamps. Thankfully, the rain had stopped at this point and the cool night air felt good after the kitchen, which had grown stuffy after a while.  

Once inside his apartment, she glanced around at what was a slightly smaller version of her and her mom’s apartment. The main room consisted of a kitchen area and a space where the couch and tv were set up. On one wall there were was a door that led to what she assumed was his bedroom and another to the bathroom. He offered the shower to her, showing her where the spare towels were, and she dug her toiletry bag out of her suitcase. Stepping under the warm spray of water, feeling sleepiness sink in, she quickly washed her hair and body. The rain had gotten rid of the grime on her skin from being in planes and airports for most of the day but it still felt good to lather up with soap.

Hair toweled off and pajamas on, she walked out into the main room where Oliver had pulled out the sleeper sofa and made it up with sheets, a quilt, and pillows. All in a bright floral print.

She ran her hand along the quilt and looked over at him, “I wouldn’t have pegged you as a guy who likes flowers on his bedspread.”

He shook his head and reached for a picture frame on the table next to the sofa, “My sister Thea, she’s twelve, this is where she sleeps when she comes to visit.”

Taking the frame from him, she looked at the picture of Oliver carrying his sister piggy-back style down a beach. No wonder he had been so kind to her, she had probably set off his big brother instincts. 

“Awww, well that makes more sense.” She put the picture frame back and turned to face him. “Thank you, by the way. You didn’t have to do all of this for me I mean you just met me and maybe I’m actually the serial killer, have you considered that? And---“

“Felicity,” he interrupted her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You had a rough day, I’m glad I could help.”

“Okay. I’m not a serial killer,” she clarified.

“I’m glad.” He squeezed her shoulder, “Get some sleep.”

He turned to leave her and she heard the shower turn on a few moments later as she was settling into bed. Realizing that her mom was awaiting a call on her arrival in Massachusetts she dialed her number and left a voicemail explaining that she was fine and would call again in the morning, but avoiding the topic of her current predicament. When she hung up, she pulled her laptop out of her backpack for a little “research” before she closed her eyes for the night. She might not be worried about her host being a serial killer, but she was curious. The longer she spent with him, the more she was convinced that she had definitely seen his face before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so happy to get such a good response to the first chapter of this fic, thank you to everyone who left comments/kudos! Enjoy the next chapter :)

He was startled awake by the sound of his phone ringing and he rolled over to silence it before noticing that the incoming call was from Thea.

“Hey… why are you still awake?” he asked.

“Mom and Dad are at a party and Raisa always lets me stay up late when she’s watching me,” Thea answered and he could hear the sleepiness in her voice.

He smiled knowingly, “You sound pretty tired though.”

“I’m not,” she protested. “When can I come visit again?”

“You were just here last week,” he pointed out.

“So?”

“Soon,” he promised.

“Good. I want to help with the….” Her voice trailed off and he had a feeling that she was falling asleep.

“Thea?” he whispered.

“I wish you would just come home,” she muttered faintly.

A pang of guilt hit him. Getting away had been the best decision for himself, but he never wanted Thea to feel like he was abandoning her. Even though he was far away, he was trying to be a better brother to her now than he had ever been when he was only a few doors down the hall. When she got older she would understand.

At least he hoped.

He sighed, “Goodnight Thea.”

“’night Ollie,” she replied before ending the call.

Easing out of bed, he walked into the kitchen quietly to grab a glass of water, being careful not to wake his guest who was clutching her laptop to her chest and snoring faintly.

The passion and excitement in her voice earlier, as she had told him about her dreams and goals, had drawn him in, and it was hard to believe that she had only just graduated high school. She certainly had her life a lot more together than he had four years ago when he was graduating high school with no real plan other than to use his name and wealth to have us much fun as he possibly could.

Turning to head back into his bedroom, he stole one last glance at her.

She had dropped so unexpectedly into his life and he was surprised to realize that he was a little sad at the thought of her just passing through.

**SUNDAY**

Felicity woke up the next morning to the sound and smell of something sizzling. Lifting her head, she saw Oliver hovering over the stove and focusing intently on whatever was in the pan. And whatever it was, it smelled good. Her stomach grumbled, protesting against the fact that all she had eaten yesterday was a quick breakfast at home before she left and the piece of chocolate cake, and it was enough motivation to get her out of bed.

What wasn’t motivating her to get out of bed was the grim possibility that she was 100% stuck in middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma for who knows how long. She had scoured the internet before falling asleep for trains, buses, planes, rental cars, any option that would get her to Massachusetts in time and had found nothing that was realistically possible. It was… disheartening to say the least.

She had thought that everything was working out perfectly for her, she couldn’t figure out why everything had gone so terribly wrong all of a sudden.

Her late night internet browsing had not been a complete loss though.

Rolling off of the bed, she adjusted her pajama top and walked over to join Oliver in the kitchen who bade her good morning.

“So… what’s billionaire playboy Oliver Queen doing this far away from Starling City?” she asked casually, swiping a muffin off of the tray he had set out.

His spatula dropped to the floor and he was silent for a moment.

“How did you know?” he finally asked.

She smiled and patted his arm, “If it’s on the internet, I can find it. Not that I didn’t trust you and honestly, I wouldn’t have even bothered to investigate except that I knew you looked familiar for some reason and I had to figure out why. First I thought it was because you just have one of those classically handsome, male model faces but no, I was sure that I had seen _you_ before. And that’s when it hit me. My mom’s favorite gossip magazines that she always has laying around the apartment. You, sir, are no stranger to their covers. I guess Starling City fame doesn’t quite reach this far across the country and that’s why you’ve been able to fly under the radar here. Quite the lifestyle you left behind… Does this place even have a nightclub?”

He shook his head and laughed, “No. There’s karaoke at the bar every first Friday of the month but that’s about as exciting as it gets.”

He retrieved a clean spatula and dished her out an omelette to go with her muffin and poured her a cup of coffee while she eyed him curiously.

“So what are you doing here? Away from your family? Your life?”

She had tried to reconcile the image that the media had painted of him, someone who flaunted his family’s wealth and status, stumbled drunk through the streets with models on his arms and yelled at cops, with “just Oliver,” the guy who baked cakes and invited crying strangers to come sleep on his sofa bed without asking for anything in return.

Needless to say, she was curious about him.

“I have a life here,” he pointed out, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“But---“

“I needed to get away,” he interrupted her with a tone of finality. “You should understand what that’s like.”

She recoiled slightly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to press… Thanks for breakfast,” she muttered taking her plate over to the little table he had set up next to a window.

Joining her at the seat across the table, he looked at her apologetically. “I’m not upset with you for being curious it’s just… I’ve managed to keep my old life far away from here and I realized that I actually like the way people treat me when they don’t know who I am, which is something I had pretty much never experienced before.”

She shrugged, “Makes sense, I guess.  

As someone who was working hard to see a day where her mom didn’t have to work triple overtime to keep the power from being shut off at their apartment, she didn’t quite understand why someone would choose to leave the comfort of not having to even think about whether or not bills would be paid. How bad could being wealthy and privileged actually be?

“So… do you have any ideas for how you’re going to get to Massachusetts in time for your interview?” he asked, obviously eager to change the subject.  

She sighed, “No.” Tears threatened to spill over and she blinked them back. “I guess I should have come up with a plan B, I was foolish to count on plan A going perfectly. But yeah, I was looking at my options last night and since money is tight and public transportation routes are limited around here, I don’t see how I can make it work. There’s a plane going out of here in six days but that’s too late anyway to be worth spending the money on and next week a cheap train that I can take to get home is passing through the next town over but…”

“But you don’t need to get home, you need to get to Massachusetts.”

Dropping her eyes to her plate, she pushed her food around with her fork. “Yeah.”

He was quiet for a moment and she could feel his eyes on her.

“What?” she asked, looking up at him.

“I’ll drive you,” he replied casually, taking a sip of his coffee.

It took her a second to process what he said and she stammered, “You’ll--- what?”

“You said your interview isn’t for another three days right? That’s plenty of time to drive and I have a truck.”

“Why?” she asked incredulously. “Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t even know me.”

“Based on what you’ve told me, I can tell that you’re someone who has felt trapped their whole life and the opportunity to escape has finally presented itself. In a way, I know what that feels like and I don’t want you to miss your chance.” He paused before adding with a shake of his head and a self-deprecating smile, “Besides, I spent most of my life being a selfish asshole and I’m really trying to make up for it.”

“But, but your job and your----“

“Felicity.” He slid his hand across the table to cover hers and she felt warmth spread through her fingers. “I haven’t taken time off in over a year, I think I’m due for a vacation. Believe it or not, they used to run that place without me staying hours after close to prep so I think they can handle things for a few days. Please,” He squeezed her hand gently. “Let me do this for you.”

This is the kind of stuff that happened to people in movies, not in real life. Hopping into a car with a handsome near-stranger for a road trip was not something that she did. No matter how desperate she felt.

She shook her head and retracted her hand. “I can’t. Look, I really appreciate you helping me out last night, and the breakfast this morning, but I can’t.”

Standing up from her chair, she started gathering up her dishes.

He frowned, “So you’re just going to give up on MIT?”

“I—I don’t know. I’ll find another way.” Stumbling backwards hastily, she ran into the back of the couch and flipped over it onto the sofa bed, her dishes clattering onto the floor and spilling food and coffee. “Eeep!”

Why was she like this?

_So. Embarrassing._

Oliver’s face appeared above her, “Are you alright?”

Her cheeks were aflame and she gathered herself up into a seated position, “Did I break the dishes?”

He rolled his eyes, “I’m not concerned about the dishes.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Umm… Could you point me towards the Motel 6 on your way to work? I think I’ll just stay there until the train comes.”

It wasn’t worth mentioning that there was no way she had enough money for that. She would figure something out, she just couldn’t keep taking advantage of him like this.

“Sure.” He sighed, “But, and I’m not trying to tell you what to do with your life or anything, I think you’re making a mistake not letting me help you.”

She crossed her arms, “That really sounds like you telling me what to do with my life. I might have slept in her bed, but I’m not your little sister.”

Seriously? She had just met this guy, what was his deal?

He opened his mouth and closed it like he was going to say something and then thought better of it. Bending down, he picked up her dishes and walked over to the sink.

“I’m leaving for the diner in half an hour. Be ready.” He called back, not bothering to look at her.

Quietly and quickly, she got dressed and pulled her hair into a ponytail. They left the apartment in awkward silence and he showed her where to turn to get to the Motel 6.

“If you’re going to be in town for a few days--- umm, well you know where to find me if you need something,” he said as they parted ways.

She gave him a small smile, “Thank you Oliver.”

At the hotel, she forked over the cash for one night and was shown to a small, dingy room that definitely made her question her decision to give up her much nicer, and free, sofa bed at Oliver’s apartment. Walking over to the nightstand, she dragged her finger through a layer of dust that elicited a sneeze. When she dropped her backpack on the chair by the window, a group of bugs scurried out from under the cushion and she closed her eyes in horror. There was no way she was going to last a week here.

Realizing that she had yet to explain her predicament to her mom, she fished her phone out of her backpack and dialed her home number.

“Hey baby girl!” Her mom answered excitedly. “How’s Boston? Or Cambridge? Where are you again?”

“Try Oklahoma,” she deadpanned, electing to pace along the room since none of the furniture seemed safe to sit on.

“What are you doing in Oklahoma?”

“Well, it was supposed to be a 45 minute layover that turned into a week-long stay.”

“But honey the calendar on the fridge says that your interview is on Wednesday.”

She swallowed, “I know.”

“Oh baby there has to be some way for you to get there in time. I would hate for you to miss this. You know that I don’t know anything about cyber security or whatever it is you want to go to school for but I do know that you know more about computers that anyone… well except for maybe your father,” she added in a mutter. “The point is, as much as I don’t want to lose you, I don’t want you to be stuck in Vegas your whole life, never following your dream, and ending up a waitress like me. You’re so smart, you deserve better.”

She knew deep down that her mom was proud of her, but it was rare that she heard it vocalized. Or maybe she just hadn’t spent much time listening.

She bit her lip, “Well there is actually one way that I could get there. Someone offered to drive me…”

“Okay, so…”

“I just feel bad taking advantage of someone like that. I wanted this to be something that I did on my own.”

It was hard for her to accept help from people, she wanted to prove that she was capable of taking care of herself and that she didn’t need to rely on anyone. She had watched her mom rely on her dad for almost everything, and then be left with nothing when he left, so she just wanted to be responsible for her own life, not owe anyone anything.

“Felicity… you _have_ done this on your own. You worked hard in school, you wrote the perfect essay, you put together a presentation that’s so good I don’t understand a word of it so it’ll definitely impress the people at that genius school. You got into MIT, you earned this scholarship. Don’t throw that away because you’re afraid to let someone help you. Unless this person is crazy or a potential serial killer. Then you should definitely not get into a car with them.”

“He’s not crazy and I managed to make it through the night without being murdered so I’m hoping that means serial killer is off the table. The funny thing is that it’s actually Oliver Quee—“

“WHAT?!” her mom shrieked. “You’re messing with me…”

“Nope. I spent the night with Oliver Queen.” A mental image flashed through her mind that she quickly shook away, “Well not with, with. I was sleeping on his sofa bed but---“

“I can’t believe this,” Donna exclaimed excitedly and Felicity could picture the exact face she was probably making at the moment. “When he stopped showing up in the tabloids I just assumed he was in rehab but this is way more exciting. Hiding out in a small town, living the simple life. I love it. Please promise me you will accept his offer, oh he is so handsome and rich and if I were a few years younger…”

“A few? Mom.”

“What? He’s only like 22 or something.”

“And you have a daughter that’s almost that old, calm down,” Felicity replied, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know if the offer still stands though. I was… kind of rude.”

“So apologize,” Donna advised. “That tends to go a long way.”

Felicity closed her eyes and contemplated for a moment before finally saying, “Okay.”

Her mom shrieked again with excitement, “You better keep me posted!” She dropped her volume a few levels, “My daughter and Oliver Queen. Who would have thought?”

“Mom. It’s literally just a car ride and you need to keep quiet about this because I get the feeling that Oliver doesn’t want people knowing where he is, okay?”

“My lips are sealed,” she promised.

“Good. Talk to you later. Love you.”

She hung up the phone and picked up her luggage, really hoping that Oliver didn’t think she was the last person he would ever want to spend hours upon hours in the car with after her freak-out that morning. The last thing she wanted was to find herself back in this disgusting room.

When she made it to the diner, there was a decent sized crowd of nicely dressed people and she figured that the morning church service must have let out not too long ago. Finding an empty stool at the counter she waited for the busyness to die down so she could have an opportunity to talk to Oliver.

A waitress approached her and asked if she wanted to see a menu.

“Oh no, I’m fine, I’m just waiting for someone.”

“How about a cup of coffee then? On the house.”

“I will gladly accept that,” she replied gratefully, seeing as most of her coffee from breakfast had ended up on Oliver’s floor.

The waitress reached behind the counter and pulled out a mug, setting it before her and filling it to the brim.  “Sugar and creamer are right there,” she said, pointing to a basket.

Half an hour, and a cup of coffee later, the morning crowd had left and the place grew quiet. Waving over the waitress who had helped her earlier, she asked if she could tell Oliver that someone was here to see him.

“Of course darling,” she nodded, a mischievous smile on her face, and headed for the kitchen door.

After a minute, Oliver peeked his head through the door and she smiled sheepishly at him.

He raised an eyebrow, “Wow. I predicted you would last at least a few more hours. You must have gotten a really dusty room.”

“I take it tourism isn’t much of an industry around here,” she quipped.

He walked over to her, “No. Pretty much the only people who know this town exists are those that have lived here their whole lives, and the people who are just passing through rarely see more than the airport.”

“That’s understandable. I mean, not that this place isn’t charming but… anyway, you know why I’m here.”

He leaned over the counter, “Mmm no, actually. Why don’t you tell me?”

She sighed, “If I want to get to Massachusetts in time, I need your help. And I’m sorry for freaking out on you this morning. I’ve gotten used to fending for myself for so long, I just—I didn’t… umm, you just caught me off guard.”

He smiled, “It’s okay, and I’m sorry for pushing you. I just didn’t want to see you miss out on something that’s obviously so important to you, but I understand what it’s like to want to feel like you can handle things on your own, like you’re finally in control of your life.”

He got a look on his face that made her think that he was no longer just talking about her.

“Like you did, when you moved out here?” she questioned.

Refocusing on her, he nodded. “Yes. And since we’ve got a long drive ahead of us, I’m sure you’ll be able to get that story out of me. But we do have to roll out the cinnamon rolls for tomorrow before we can leave.”

She shook her head and laughed, “Oh. I told you, I’m a disaster in the kitchen. Peeling potatoes last night might have been my limit.”

“It’s not that hard,” he promised. “C’mon.”

She slid off the stool and followed him into the kitchen, stowing her luggage in an empty corner. He grabbed an extra apron for her and had her turn around so he could tie it on for her. His fingers skimmed over her back and she bit her lip as her breath quickened at his close proximity.

This was ridiculous.

She did not have time to develop a crush.

When he stepped away from her, he quickly introduced her to the other cooks in the kitchen before leading her over to his workstation. A covered bowl was sitting there filled with a large ball of dough and he floured the counter before depositing the dough and pressing it flat with the palms of his hand.

Grabbing a rolling pin, he covered it with flour and handed it to her, “Here. It needs to be half an inch thick.”

“Uhhh….”

“Just give it a try.”

She came to take his place in front of the counter and tentatively ran the rolling pin over the dough.

“That’s good, but you need to push down on it more,” he advised, coming to stand behind her and cover her hands with his to guide them. “Like this.”

She blushed furiously when one of the other cooks glanced over at them with a smirk but Oliver didn’t seem to notice. Once the dough was properly rolled out, they sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar, rolled it up, and cut it into individual cinnamon rolls.

“30 minutes, 350 degrees,” Oliver told one of the cooks after he covered the baking sheet and put them to the side. “The recipe for the glaze is sitting taped to the fridge. I’ll be back in a few days but don’t hesitate to call if you need me to talk you through any of my recipes, okay?”

She nodded in response, “Have a good trip!”

“They already knew you were leaving?” Felicity asked as they hung up their aprons and grabbed her luggage.

He shrugged. “Yeah. I was hoping I could convince you to change your mind so I gave them notice this morning when I got here. I used to have no trouble getting girls to go anywhere with me…” he winked at her and she got a glimpse of the Oliver Queen she recognized from the paparazzi pics before he dipped his head. “Anyway. My truck’s parked back at home. I just have to finish loading it up with a few things and then we can get on the road.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be moving into school next weekend but my plan is to have a chapter posted, it might just be a little later in the day than usual :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your kind words on the last chapter, I really appreciate it :) Also, I didn't notice until this morning but this fic has well passed 100 kudos, I'm so glad y'all are enjoying the story! I re-watched Leap Year again the other night to remind myself of some of my favorite parts that might just find their way weaved into future chapters. Enjoy this one!

_ Her hair smelled nice. _

_ Like the shampoo scent that had lingered in his shower after she had taken hers. _

_ Fresh and clean and a little lemony. _

_ He noticed this when she was pressed up against him as they rolled out the cinnamon roll dough. _

_ His brain hadn’t fully registered what he was doing as he stepped behind her and covered her small, soft hands with his to guide them. Standing that close to her though, he felt a warm sensation in his chest that he was pretty sure was unrelated to the temperature of the kitchen. _

_ Her ponytail swung rhythmically as she walked a step ahead of him back to his apartment. _

_ Yesterday she had been a complete stranger. He barely knew her. She was just passing through his life. He was only doing what he would want someone to do for Thea. _

_ Repeating these things to himself didn’t change the fact that he was more than pleased she had agreed to let him take her to Massachusetts. And that the affectionate feelings he felt were definitely not the same he felt for his little sister. Maybe he had spent way too much time listening to the waitresses talk about whatever romance novels they were reading, but he felt like it wasn’t an accident that she had showed up. _

_ He shook his head, he had definitely been spending way too much time listening to the waitresses. He might have given up his playboy ways but he was not some hopeless romantic who developed crushes on strangers. _

_ When they got to his apartment he glanced over at her while unlocking the door and she looked up at him with a small smile that made his chest do that weird thing again. _

_ Returning her smile and pushing the door open, he sighed inwardly. _

_ Small town life had gotten to his head. _

“So I checked Google Maps and it said it’s about a 25 hour drive to MIT, and of course that’s without traffic and stopping for the bathroom and food and sleeping. I mean there’s really no reason to do this straight through since I don’t have to be there until Wednesday afternoon and that would be exhausting, right?” she asked through the bedroom door while Oliver shuffled around inside packing things into a duffel bag.

“We can take our time,” he echoed in agreement.

“Okay.” She shuffled closer to the doorframe. “Good. I mean, I’m not trying to make you spend more time with me than you have to or anything. Since you’re already being so generous and I don’t want to---”

“As long as you promise not to be a backseat driver, I don’t think it will be too intolerable,” he interrupted her teasingly before zipping up his duffel and walking past her out of the bedroom.

She smiled and followed him into the main room where he grabbed his keys and wallet from where he had dropped them on the kitchen counter.

In the hallway they ran into a young mom holding a baby and chasing after a little boy whose face lit up when he saw Oliver.

“Oliver! Can we play basketball?” The little boy looked back at his mom, “Mom can I play outside with Oliver?”

“I’m sorry buddy, I don’t have time to play today. I have to take Felicity to Massachusetts.”

Felicity gave a little wave and he looked over at her.

“What’s Massachusetts? Why do you have to go there? Are you Oliver’s girlfriend? Why haven’t I seen you before?”

“Sweetheart, one question at a time,” his mom scolded and shot her an apologetic look.

Felicity crouched down to the little boy’s eye level and explained, “Massachusetts is a state that’s kind of far away from here, and I want to go to a school there called MIT.”

“MIT,” the boy echoed, nodding his head in understanding.

“Yep. And I’m not Oliver’s girlfriend but he’s driving me to Massachusetts because my plane got canceled and I didn’t have any other way to get there.”

“Oh. So you’re his regular friend,” the little boy replied matter of factly.

She thought that “friend” might be a bit of a stretch seeing as they had just met less than 24 hours ago but it wasn’t exactly like he was just an Uber driver either. 

Oliver didn’t seem to have any objections to the statement though and the little boy continued, “I’m Tyler. You can be my friend too.”

Felicity grinned, “Okay.”

“We’re going to be gone for a few days so please help yourself to anything in my fridge. I have a bunch of leftovers that I don’t want to go to waste,” Oliver said to the mom who was bouncing her baby on her hip.

“Bless your heart,” she said gratefully. “Greg has been working overtime this week and I haven’t gotten to the grocery store.”

“No problem.” Oliver offered a high five to Tyler, “We’ll play basketball when I get back, okay?”

He returned the high five, “Okay!”

Once they had continued down the hall to their apartment, Oliver turned to her, “Ready to hit the road, my regular friend?”

She shook her head in amusement at his repeating of Tyler’s words and laughed, “Ready.”

Outside of his building they went around back to where there was a small lot filled with a few cars that had certainly seen better days. The truck that Oliver led her over to was not what she was expecting to see a Queen behind the wheel of. It was clean and it didn’t appear in such a way that she should be concerned it wouldn’t make it to Massachusetts, but it wasn’t the newest model or anything fancy. 

Oliver must have taken note of her facial expression because he shrugged casually and commented, “I don’t want to look like someone who has a trust fund and formerly owned three sports cars.”

“Right. Of course. Isn’t it weird though? To live so differently than you used to.”

“Yeah. But it’s a good weird,” he answered as he helped her load her things into the small back seat of the truck.

He offered her a hand to help her up into the passenger seat and she took a second to notice the details about his hands, like the little burn marks that she figured came from cooking mishaps, callouses on his fingers, and a long scar along one of his knuckles. The sound of him clearing his throat made her realize that she was holding onto his hand for entirely too long and she retracted it, her face aflame.

“Ummm… what’s that scar from?” she asked, hoping to deflect some of the awkwardness.

He winced at the memory, “Let’s just say, my knife skills have come a long way. I was chopping carrots for chicken noodle soup and got a little more Iron Chef than I could handle.”

She started to laugh and then cut herself off abruptly, “Sorry. It’s not funny that you got hurt. I was just imagining you trying to go all Bobby Flay on a carrot---“

“---and ending up with stitches,” he finished, with a laugh of his own as he slid into the driver’s seat.

For the first hour on the road he entertained her with recounting some of his other kitchen mishaps from when he was first learning to cook.

At one point she was doubled over in laughter, her seatbelt digging painfully into her ribs as he talked about the time he set his microwave on fire. The old lady who lived next door had come banging on his door complaining that the smoke alarm was making it hard for her to hear her TV.

“So, moral of the story: aluminum foil does not go in the microwave,” he concluded.

“I’m pretty sure that’s a well-known fact,” she remarked, gasping for air as she reigned in her fit of giggles.

“I didn’t do a lot of cooking before I left home,” he pointed out defensively. “But it worked out okay because that’s how I met my neighbor and, once she got over the fact that I caused her to miss final Jeopardy, she decided that she liked me. She’s the one who taught me how to make homemade chicken pot pie. Spending time with her in the kitchen reminded me so much of Raisa and really helped me with my homesickness.”

“Raisa?”

She glanced over at him and saw a fond look come across his face.

“She was one of our housekeepers growing up and did all of the cooking.” He smiled, “She was also one of the few people who I never seemed to disappoint and was always so patient with me. When I first settled in Oklahoma she called almost every day making sure that I was doing okay.”

There was a few beats of silence between them before she spoke up, “So… you going to tell me?”

He glanced over at her, “Tell you what?”

She reached her hand over to smack his thigh teasingly in mock annoyance, “You know what I’m asking. How did you end up in Oklahoma? Are you in witness protection? Did you accidently stumble into an alley where a mob deal was happening? A murder? Or a---“

“None of the above,” he interrupted her with a laugh. “You have quite the overactive imagination.”

“Oh I know. Cronuts? Totally had a vision of those before they were a thing….”

“Mmm,” he nodded.  “I’ve made cronuts before. The secret is homemade dough, they don’t turn out nearly as good if you try to cheat and just use the canned stuff.”

“Is there anything you don’t know how to make?” she asked.

He shrugged, “Lots of stuff. But for someone who never really picked up a cooking utensil for the first 20 years of his life, I’d say I’m a fast learner.”

Her stomach grumbled unceremoniously before she could reply and she blushed.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since most of your breakfast ended up on my floor,” he teased.

She groaned, “I’m still sorry about that.”

“Hey, if you recall the lasagna making fiasco I told you about earlier this isn’t the first time food has ended up all over my floor. Why don’t you find someplace along this road for us to stop for lunch?”

Reaching for her phone she did a quick search for nearby restaurants, “Let’s see… we have an all you can eat pancake house, a pizza place, and a diner. What do you think?”

“It’s up to you.”

She bit her lip and weighed her options, “I could go for some pizza right now… but pancakes… but then if this diner is anything like yours…”

“It won’t be,” he interrupted smugly. “But I mean it’s not technically  _ my _ diner… I just work there.”

“Well yeah, but you know what I meant. If the chocolate cake is as good as the cake you make---“

“Which, I repeat, it won’t be.”

She raised an eyebrow, “I think we need to investigate and find out if these claims of yours are true Mr. Queen.”

He shrugged confidently, a grin on his face, “Okay. Just let me know where I need to turn.”

“I thought I wasn’t allowed to be a backseat driver,” she retorted teasingly.

Reaching over, he tapped her knee, “It’s a good thing you’re not in the back seat then.”

A few minutes later they pulled into the busy parking lot of Wendy’s Diner and were seated at a cozy both in the corner of a crowded room.

“Looks like we made a good choice based on how popular it seems to be,” Felicity commented, picking up the menu that had been placed in front of her.

“Mhmm,” Oliver consented, scanning his own menu.

Deciding on her order, she sat the menu down and observed Oliver for a moment while he continued to be absorbed in reading the descriptions of the dishes. This whole situation still felt so weird to her. She wasn’t exactly used to guys tripping over themselves to do something nice for her, let alone one she had just met less than 24 hours ago. She bit her lip, realizing how ridiculous it was that she had developed a crush in such a short amount of time. But then again, he wasn’t exactly hard to look at so…

Oliver glanced up and, noticing her staring, a smirk turned up his mouth and she felt her cheeks redden.  

She could feel a babbling ramble about to start in defense of herself when the waitress arrived and spared her.

“Do y’all know what you want to order?” she asked brightly.

“Umm…” Felicity looked down at her menu, the meal she had decided on having been replaced in her brain by the fact that Oliver had freckles on his nose. She  _ really  _ needed to get a grip.

Oliver rattled off his order of a burger and fries and she placed hers for the baked macaroni and cheese.

“And a slice of chocolate cake,” she added.

The waitress finished scribbling on her pad and walked off, leaving her alone with Oliver again.

Who was now looking intently at  _ her.  _

“What?” she asked defensively, reaching up to touch her ponytail self-consciously.

He gave her a lazy smile, “Nothing.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“I didn’t realize that you were the only one who was allowed to stare.”

Umm…  _ what? _

“I—I was not staring,” she stammered. “I was reflecting. On how weird this is.”

“If you think having lunch in a diner is weird you really need to get out more.”

She rolled her eyes, “You know what I’m talking about. It’s weird that I’m on a road trip halfway across the country with someone who’s practically a stranger. I’m not entirely convinced that I’m not being kidnapped right now.”

He waggled his eyebrows, “Is that why you’re keeping such a close eye on me?”

She shrugged non-committedly, “Maybe. Do you flirt like this with all your old lady friends in Oklahoma?”

His mouth opened and closed silently and she was pleased to see a tinge of red on the tips of his ears.

“Anyway,” she continued. “All I’m saying is that I don’t usually do… spontaneous.”

He nodded, “I gathered that.”

“I guess I just never really had the luxury to do so. I had to be careful with my time, careful with my money. Pretty much everything I’ve done for the past couple of years was a part of my plan to get out of Vegas.”

As she spoke she realized that even her “crazy” idea to dye her hair and change up her wardrobe if---  _ when _ she got into MIT wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. No wonder she had totally freaked out when everything had gotten derailed yesterday. She knew that carefully laid,  _ self-sustainable  _ plans were part of her coping mechanism to deal with all the things she couldn’t control in her life, like her father leaving, but she didn’t know when she had gotten to this point where she couldn’t remember the last time she did something that wasn’t on her to-do list.

“What would you be doing today instead of sitting in this booth with me if you hadn’t been forced to take a detour from your plans?” Oliver asked, leaning across the table slightly.

“Honestly? Sitting in my Airbnb stressing over my interview. So… this is kind of a nice distraction,” she admitted, fiddling with her silverware.

This road trip hadn’t been a part of the plan but maybe it was exactly what she needed.  

“Oh no!” Her brow wrinkled, “That reminds me, I need to call my host and let her know why I didn’t show up last night…”

While she was on the phone, the waitress arrived with their food and as soon as she hung up they dug in hungrily.

“Hey!” Felicity protested when Oliver dipped a fork into her macaroni and cheese.

“I have to be able to compare it to mine,” he remarked, lifting the bite to his mouth.

“It’s pretty good,” she evaluated. “I can’t remember the last time I ate mac and cheese that didn’t come out of a blue box.”

Oliver tapped his chin thoughtfully after his taste test, “Not bad. Mine is better though.”

“Oh yeah?”

He nodded confidently, “Mhmm.”

“Well if for some strange reason I ever end up back in Oklahoma, I’ll be sure to stop by for a visit and then you can make it for me.” She laughed, “Knowing my apparent luck with flying though, I think the chances aren’t as slim as I would hope.”

A frown flickered across his face for a second before he regathered himself, “Yeah. You should do that. I mean, if you’re ever in Oklahoma again. I’ll be sure to save you from the Motel 6.”

She put a hand over her heart, “My hero.”

His easy grin returned to his face and he stole another bite of her mac and cheese.

“Hey! I thought you said it wasn’t good!”

“I didn’t say that. I just said that mine was better,” he pointed out.

She shook her head and grabbed a handful of fries from his plate.

When the waitress brought out her piece of cake she groaned, her full stomach protesting the dessert, “I think I should just take this to go and eat it later…”

The waitress smiled, “No problem. I’ll get you a box straight away dear.”

She returned a moment later with the box and the check, “I don’t think I’ve seen you two in here before, are you from around?”

“Ahh no, we’re just passing through on a road trip to Massachusetts,” Felicity answered.

“Oh that’s so fun! I’ve always wanted to see the east coast… maybe I could talk my boyfriend into a road trip. How long have you two been together?”

“Oh no we’re not--- no---- we actually just met. Yesterday,” she clarified for the second time that day, glancing over at Oliver who was signing the check for their food and seeing that the corners of his mouth had turned up in amusement.

“Oh…okay then,” the waitress replied, clearly a little confused.

“It’s kind of a long story.” She tipped her head in Oliver’s direction, “I’m just really glad that I stumbled upon someone so kind and willing to help a stranger in need.”

The smile returned to the waitress’ face, “Aww that’s sweet. Well enjoy your cake and have a nice trip!”

After she walked away, Felicity fished in her backpack for some money, “I can’t let you pay for my meal.”

Oliver grabbed her wrist gently, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Oliver,” she protested.  

“I already paid.”

“Fine,” she consented. “But I get dinner.”

“It’s a deal. You ready to get back on the road?”

After a quick pit stop to the restroom they were back in Oliver’s truck and heading down an endless stretch of country road. Watching the scenery roll by was calming and for the first time in a while she let her brain take a break from the constant worries that swirled around in her thoughts.  

“Tell me a story,” Oliver requested randomly after about an hour of comfortable silence.

She glanced over at him, “What?”

“I told you lots of stories earlier, I want to know something about you. Something that doesn’t have anything to do with college though because I’m intent on keeping you distracted from that for the rest of this trip.”

“That’s could be a pretty difficult task; are you sure you’re up for it?”

He laughed, “Trust me. I have a lot of personal experience with doing anything to avoid the subject.”

“And hey from what I can tell, you didn’t turn out too bad. Maybe my life won’t be ruined if I can’t go to MIT. I could just come be your sous chef. Do they have those at a diner? I didn’t seem to mess up the potatoes or the cinnamon rolls. I mean it’s not exactly how I saw my life going but it wouldn’t be as bad as getting stuck in Vegas for the rest of my life and becoming just like my mom. I mean, I love my mom and all but I’m not her and I---”

She paused and took a deep breath when she realized that she was letting herself get stressed again.

“Everything is going to work out with MIT,” Oliver assured her, reaching over to squeeze her knee gently.

“Yeah,” she breathed, her eyes glued on his hand.

“It only took a few minutes of listening to you talk last night to realize how remarkable you are. A group of geniuses should be smart enough to recognize that too.”

She blushed, “Thank you. For remarking on it.”

He pulled his hand away and she stifled a noise of protest at the loss of the warmth that was spreading from his fingers down to her toes.

“Now. No more talk that stresses you out for the rest of the trip,” he reminded her, the sternness in his voice betrayed by the smile on his face.

“Okay. I promise. So umm…” She tapped her chin. “What would be a good story? Oh! So, I learned how to count cards when I was 12….”

“Count cards? Like for blackjack?”

“Yep.”

“Is that legal?”

“Technically? Yes. If I was 21 and it was actually legal for me to be gambling in Las Vegas in the first place.”

“So are you saying that I’m harboring a criminal?” he teased.

She grinned mischievously, “Hey, it’s not my fault you didn’t request a background check before offering to help me.”

“Go on…”  

“When I was younger this couple in my apartment complex, who would babysit me sometimes when my mom was working, always had blackjack night on Fridays. That’s how I learned to play. They still don’t know that the reason I started raking in everyone’s cash was because I taught myself how to count cards. And my mom doesn’t know that that’s how the hot water didn’t go out some months…. But anyway, the point is that I am not a criminal since it’s not gambling when I play. Because I always win.”

He shook his head in amusement, “Touché.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am officially back at school now and while I always try my best to keep up with regular updates, please be patient with me if chapters sometimes get posted a little later than normal :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! As always thank you for your kind words on last week's chapter, I'm so happy to hear that so many of you are enjoying this story :) There won't be an update next week as I have a lot of school work I need to get to and I'm not sure I'll be able to have time to get the chapter ready but I promise we'll be back to normal updates after that :) I tried not to make the ending of this chapter too much of a cliff hanger...

“I’m a trust fund, baby, you can trust me,” Oliver chimed in, tossing Felicity a wink.

She clapped enthusiastically, laughing, “You nailed it!”

Almost 3 hours of driving later they were on their second listen through the Hamilton soundtrack after Felicity had discovered he had never heard of it and was appalled.

_“Have you been living under a rock?!”_

_“Well…”_

_“I’m sorry but you can’t use the small town excuse on this one. EVERYONE is listening to Hamilton right now.”_

_“Ummm….”_

_Grabbing the aux cord she plugged in her phone and he had found himself tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as the music filled the inside of the truck._

She turned the music down as the song continued, “Do you think we should figure out what we’re going to do for dinner? I’m starting to get hungry….”

“Me too,” he agreed. “Why don’t you check out what’s nearby again and pick something out?”

A few minutes later she spoke up, “Well, there’s a pizza place that looks good but it’s about an hour away still. I guess I can wait that long….”

“Don’t you still have cake to eat?”

“Oh that’s right!” She reached down for the box at her feet. “This will make the perfect appetizer.”

“So? What’s the verdict?” he asked after she had taken a few bites.

“You sir, have ruined me for chocolate cake forever.”

He grinned smugly, “Sorry.”

“I mean, this is okay. But yours was literally the best cake I’ve ever tasted and I don’t think anything else is going to compare,” she closed the lid on the container and stowed it away again. “On an unrelated note, we should probably also start to think about where we’re going to sleep tonight…”

“I have a plan already,” he answered simply.

She was silent, most likely waiting for him to elaborate and, when he didn’t, asked, “Are you going to fill me in on the plan?”

He shook his head, “Nope.”

He glanced over and saw that she was trying her best not to pout. His eyes zeroed in on her lips and for a second he wondered what it would be like to kiss her.

_Pointless, Oliver. Pointless._

As she had reminded him at lunch, the chances of them ever seeing each other after this were slim. He wasn’t sure why that made him feel so disappointed, but it did. There was just something about her, something that made him want to spend hours driving half way across the country with her even though he had just met her.

Maybe he was just lonely.

In his old life, he had girls flinging themselves at him constantly and, even though he had no desire to go back to that, he missed things like a meal with a beautiful girl who made him laugh. In the town he was living in now, while he had made many great friends, there weren’t many people his age. They took off as soon as they graduated high school and maybe came back years later to raise their family. It was unsurprising that Felicity’s arrival into his life had been purely accidental.

_But that doesn’t mean you’re destined to marry her as if real life is some Nicholas Spark’s novel._

_Tommy would probably drag me back to Starling to kill me if he found out that I even knew who Nicholas Sparks was._

Before she could notice where his gaze had landed he snapped his eyes back to the road, “You know, it’s nice to be able to just go with the flow sometimes and let other people take care of things.”

“That’s a new sensation. So far I’m not enjoying it.”

He laughed, “I’ll give you a hint to ease your misery. We’re staying somewhere… rustic.”

“Like a lodge?”

“Mmm no.”

“Are we--- are we camping?” she asked tentatively.

“Maybe…”

“Oh. I’ve never gone camping before.”

“I mean, we can look for a hotel if you want. I just have the stuff still packed from the last time Thea came to visit and I took her out to work on this star map project for school and we slept in the bed of the truck and there isn’t any rain in the forecast so I thought it would be fun and…” The more he uncharacteristically rambled, the more he second guessed his idea. “Yeah. We can just go to a hotel. Sorry.”

“No, no, no. This is a good plan. Honestly, after the disgustingness of the Motel 6, camping sounds rather glamorous. But you have to promise we’ll make s’mores.”

He breathed a silent sigh of relief, “Of course. That’s a necessity.”

* * *

 

Felicity tapped her fingers on the dash of Oliver’s truck as she waited for him to finish at the welcome center. She had never really considered herself an outdoorsy girl per se, but after her realization that she hadn’t had many spontaneous adventures as of late, she wanted to make the most of the opportunities this road trip could provide her.

After dinner at the pizza place, they had stopped at a convenience store and picked up firewood, s’mores supplies, and a box of donuts for breakfast before navigating their way to the state park where they would be camping for the night.

When Oliver came back out to the truck, he handed her a map. “We can pick anywhere along the marked trails that we want for our site. They said it’s not too busy right now, so it should be nice and quiet wherever we go.”

While he drove, she examined the map and chose a site that she thought would be suitable. With her completely non-existent camping knowledge.

She knew she had made a good choice though when they pulled up to the site and it was a nice clearing in the trees where the stars could shine through as it got darker. Sitting down at the picnic table, she watched as Oliver pulled out the camping supplies he had stowed in the truck and started to inflate an air mattress in the bed of the truck.

“You want to go for a walk?” Felicity asked shyly when Oliver had finished setting up their bed in the back of the truck. If she sat around and looked at that mattress for too long she would probably freak herself out at the thought of them sleeping so close together and what if she drooled in her sleep or rolled too close to him or--- yeah, she needed a walk. “I’m not really tired yet and we’ve spent so much time just sitting in the truck today and it’s so bright with the full moon….”

How was he seemingly not bothered in the slightest by the notion of them climbing under the covers together?

_Because this is **Oliver Queen**. The guy has probably had more one night stands than you’ve had birthdays._ _Platonic bed sharing is obviously not going to faze him in the slightest._

It was definitely fazing her.

He nodded, “Yeah. I think I saw a trail marker not too far from here.”

She hopped up from the log and followed him down the road to where there was in fact a trail leading off into the woods. The moonlight streamed through the gaps in the leaves and illuminated the way as they walked in silence for a few minutes. Finally, her nagging curiosity got the best of her and she just had to know.

“So you never finished telling me how you ended up working in a diner in Oklahoma,” she remarked.  

“You’re very curious,” he commented.

“I just hate mysteries. And you,” she pivoted on her heel and tapped him on the shoulder, “You are a mystery.”

“When I first walked into the diner it was to apply for a job as a dishwashing boy,” he began. “And that’s what I did for six months or so.”

“Oliver Queen doing dishes, the media would have a field day,” she muttered.

He huffed in amusement, “Yeah. That and mopping floors and wiping tables. It was the humbling experience I needed though.”

“How’d you get promoted to the kitchen?”

“One night they were short-staffed after the high school football game. I got thrown into the kitchen, and found out that I really loved to cook. At home every night for weeks after that I would practice the recipes that we use at the diner, made adjustments to them, experimented with my own recipes. Before I knew it, I was the one making the dishes at the diner, not washing them.  And now, almost 2 years later, the owners felt confident enough to take a step back and make me head of the kitchen so they could spend more time with their grandchildren. Back home, I was pushed into a box of what was expected of me and I rebelled against it, and while it felt like I was having fun, I wasn’t really doing anything that I had any kind of passion for.”

“So you wouldn’t describe yourself as passionate about peeing on cop cars?” She interjected lightheartedly, remembering something she had heard from one of her mom’s rambles.

He shook his head, “No. That’s just how I acted out because I didn’t want to be what my parent’s expected of me.”

“And that was...?”

“Just like my father. Future businessman who would take over Queen Consolidated and continue its legacy, as well as maintain my family’s elite social status. They started pushing me towards college, a business degree and that’s when I really started to blatantly disappoint them.”

“What pushed you into leaving?” she asked.

He sighed, “I don’t know, I just woke up one morning and realized that I had hit a dead end hard. I wasn’t like you, I didn’t know what I really wanted to do with my life, who I wanted to be.  I couldn’t commit to my girlfriend and I had finally pushed her away by cheating on her with her sister. I couldn’t remember the last time I had even tried to act like a big brother. My parents had gotten tired of my pushing off going to college so I was supposed to be touring my father’s alma mater the next day, but instead I threw a bunch of my things in a box and hit the road. My whole life had been planned out for me without any consideration as to whether or not it was what was best for me. I couldn’t be who my parents wanted me to be, and I hated the person I was becoming, so I just drove, trying to get as far away from everything as possible, and that’s how I ended up in Oklahoma.”  

“Wow,” she breathed out.

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah. A fresh start was what I needed. A chance to figure out who I was without all the expectations that had been placed on me because of who my family is.”

“How does your family feel about all this?”

He laughed dryly, “At first, my parents were pretty mad. They thought that I was being ungrateful for the life they had given me and being reckless and irresponsible as usual. But, I was able to get them to reluctantly come around to the idea of giving me some space and they were able to keep the press from seeking me out. Thea visits as often as she can and my best friend Tommy has been out a few times, but my parents haven’t visited once. I think they would feel a little out of place.”

“And you haven’t gone home at all since you left?”

He shook his head, “No. I know if I go back they’re going to pressure and guilt me into staying and taking my rightful position at the company and, as much as I miss people back home, I can’t deal with that. Besides, I like where I live now. The people are friendly, no one’s trying to take pictures of me from the moment I walk out my front door to the moment I walk back in, and I never have to worry about running into any of my exes who hate me, which is more than likely all of them. When I first left, I never planned on it being permanent, but I don’t know if I can return to that life again, or leave the one I’ve built in Oklahoma. My sister really wants me to come home though and so does Tommy…”

“Couldn’t you just tell your parents that you want to cook and get a job back home doing that instead? I mean, based on what I’ve tasted, you’re really good at it and if it’s something you really love---”

He interrupted her with a laugh, “I can only imagine the look on my father’s face if I tried to tell him that. I told you, there are certain expectations that come with the Queen name. It’s only where the name doesn’t matter to anyone that I can do whatever I want.”

She felt sympathy towards him as he opened up to her. Sure, her life hadn’t been very privileged and she had to work hard for every little opportunity she had but she was free to make of her life whatever she wanted. No one constantly had a camera turned on her, waiting for the perfect moment to arise to capture a picture that could add to the narrative they were trying to create about her. There was nothing driving her down a certain path.

_That’s not true._

The little voice in her head reminded her that in many ways she was following in her father’s footsteps. That she wanted to prove to him, wherever he was, that she was a daughter who was just as smart as him, a daughter he could be proud of.

A daughter he would regret leaving.

She shook those thoughts away, “I’m sorry, that really sucks. But what about opening your own restaurant? Your parents might be impressed by you taking some business initiative and get off your case about the company.”

He paused abruptly. “Hmmm. I had never considered that before but, it’s… not a terrible idea,” he admitted, although there was still some skepticism in his voice. “Even if I could somehow make that happen though, I left a lot of messes unresolved when I took off that I’m worried are going to drag me right back to where I was two years ago. The picture the tabloids had painted of me was unfortunately at times accurate.”

“Oliver, you can’t just fall off the face of the earth forever. Eventually someone is going to find out what happened to you and you won’t be able to hide out anymore. You said it’s been almost two years since you left? That’s plenty of time for people to get over stuff and move on. I mean, my boyfriend dumped me on my birthday sophomore year and I refrained from completely ruining his life with a few keystrokes when he was applying to Ivy League schools last fall.”

“Do you have a boyfriend now?” he blurted out and even in the dim light she saw his ears turn red as he kept his gaze firmly on the trail ahead, starting to walk again.

“Uhhh… no,” she answered, not wanting to let herself imagine why he would be curious. “Look I’m not saying that you’re obligated to go back to Starling if you don’t want to, but if you miss your friends and family, you shouldn’t let stuff hold you back from returning. It’s clear to me that you’re not that guy in the tabloids anymore.”

“I guess…”

“He definitely wouldn’t have wanted to hang out with me,” she joked, attempting to lighten the mood. “I’m not exactly the leggy model type.”

“That would have been his loss,” he remarked quietly and it was her turn to blush.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before encountering---

“Oh my goodness look how beautiful that is!” Felicity exclaimed in a whisper, not wanting to disrupt the peaceful scene of a waterfall illuminated by moonlight spilling into a shallow pool of water.  

An idea popped into her head and, in the spirit of trying to be a little more spontaneous, she decided to act on it before she could think about it too much. Reaching for the hem of her shirt, she pulled it up over her head and dropped it to the ground.

“Wha—“

She glanced over her shoulder at Oliver whose mouth was agape.

“I’m going in,” she explained as she undid the button and zipper of her jeans and pulled them off, depositing them next to her shirt.

“But… it’s dark and you can’t see what’s in the water…”

“Oliver, the water is like less than 2 feet deep. There’s enough light from the moon for me to be able to see that. I just want to stand under the waterfall, I don’t think I’ll get eaten by a swamp monster. So, you going to join me?”

“I--- yeah.” He grinned and unzipped his sweatshirt before quickly taking off his t-shirt and jeans.

She tried and failed to keep her eyes from widening practically to the size of dinner plates as her gaze traveled down his body.

_Muscles. So many muscles._

When she snapped her eyes back up to meet his there was a smug smirk on his face and she glared at him, “Don’t even say anything.”

He raised his hands defensively, “I wasn’t going to.”

“You know, it’s really dumb that you have a body like that because isn’t there some saying about not trusting a skinny cook and yet you look like that and you’re like a master of baked goods and there is just something not right about that.”

Turning on her heel, she walked over to the edge of the small pool that the waterfall was spilling into and dipped a toe in, “Oh wow. That’s cold.”

Oliver came over to join her and tested the water as well, “I’ll start the fire as soon as we get back.”

“Okay. Here goes nothing.” She waded into the water, which only came up to her mid-calf as she had suspected, and over to the waterfall. Taking a deep breath she walked underneath the stream of water and gasped when the spray pounded against the top of her head and shoulders. When the initial shock wore off, she found it exhilarating and refreshing to feel the water rushing around her.

“Are you okay?” Oliver asked, still standing outside of the waterfall.

“Yeah!” She yelled over the sound of the water before extending a hand to him. “C’mon!”

He linked his fingers with hers and allowed her to tug him forward under the water.

“Whoa,” he breathed out.

“Isn’t this amazing?!” she asked, squeezing his hand excitedly.

They were millimeters away from each other and she marveled silently at how comfortable she had become with him in such a short period of time. There were moments when she forgot they hadn’t been friends for a while. It was uncharacteristic for her to make such quick connections with people but there was just something about him that made it so easy. Which was not something she would have expected from someone like him who came from a world so different than hers. She wasn’t quite ready to think about saying goodbye to him after he dropped her off at MIT so she was determined to focus on making the trip as memorable as possible until then. Closing her eyes, she could almost physically feel the stress that she had been experiencing for months, _years_ , melt away with the water. Even if it was only a temporary relief, she was grateful.

After a few more seconds under the water, she started to shiver and the thought of a toasty fire was incredibly appealing. She stepped out from underneath the water and Oliver followed her to over where their clothes were sitting.

“Here,” Oliver extended his sweatshirt to her and she grabbed it gratefully, letting it engulf her in warmth instead of trying to get her clothes over her damp skin.

He shrugged his t-shirt on and they walked back to their campsite where she changed into some dry underwear and sweats in the truck while Oliver got a small fire going. When she climbed out of the truck she bit her lip to hide a smile at the scene of him hovering over the flames in his t-shirt and still wet boxers.

“Are you going to put some pants on?”

“Why? Am I distracting you?” he teased, swiveling his hips.

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the way her mouth went dry, and chucked the bag of marshmallows at his head.

“Hey!” Oliver clutched the bag to his chest, “These could have fallen into the fire.”

“Put some pants on,” she repeated, plucking the bag from his hands and opening it.

A half an hour later, she was sitting on the ground with a s’more, watching Oliver demonstrate the proper way to toast a marshmallow.

“I think mine turned out just fine,” she remarked, licking marshmallow off of her finger tips.

He glanced over at her, “You set the entire marshmallow on fire.”

She shrugged, “And that was perfectly effective for melting it.”

“But… but it’s so much better if you let it get nice and golden and you don’t have charred black bits,” he protested.

“I’m not entirely convinced…”

He pulled his marshmallow away from the coals to inspect it and, pulling it off the stick, came over to sit next to her.

“Here, let me convince you.” He held the marshmallow up to her mouth and she hesitated for a fraction of a second before biting half of it off. He popped the rest of the marshmallow into his mouth and then looked at her questioningly. “So?”

“Okay… that’s pretty good,” she consented. “But I’m still not entirely sure it’s worth taking all of that time for when you can just set it ablaze and melt it in a second.”

He shook his head, “You’re crazy.”

She yawned, “Maybe. I’m definitely tired though.”

Today had been one of the longest days of her life, it felt like an eternity ago that she had been eating breakfast in Oliver’s apartment. They sat around the fire for another hour or so, talking about random stuff before she couldn’t string together more than a few words without yawning and was ready to call it a night.

Gesturing over at the truck Oliver said, “There’s a bathhouse not too far down the road; I’ll put out the fire.”

Once she had brushed her teeth and gone to the bathroom she passed Oliver on the way back to the campsite and he told her to make herself comfortable in the truck and he would be back in a minute. In the bed of the truck there was a pillow with a case that matched the floral bedding she had used back at Oliver’s house and she settled herself down on that side underneath the quilt. She contemplated pretending to be asleep when Oliver came over to avoid any awkwardness but she found herself mesmerized by the clear view of the stars above her. Growing up in a city as bright as Vegas, she had never seen such a display in the night sky and she was once again happy that Oliver had pushed her out of her comfort zone to be able to see this.  

“It’s awesome, isn’t it?”

She turned her head and saw Oliver climbing in next to her.

“Yeah. I’ve never seen so many stars.”

She had tried to stay as close to the edge of the mattress as possible but things were definitely cozy once Oliver had laid down. Wondering what was going through his head, she hoped he couldn’t hear the way her heart was pounding in her chest. When they had stripped down earlier it had been so dark and they had been too preoccupied with the waterfall for her to really feel any awkwardness, but now that they were just lying down in silence, she could practically feel her skin burning from the proximity.

Her feet brushed against his leg and she retracted them quickly, muttering, “Sorry.”

He didn’t reply and things were silent for a minute so she thought that maybe he had fallen asleep until he whispered, “Felicity?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad your flight got canceled.”

A small smile curled up the edges of her mouth and a response she never would have expected to ever say when she first saw the announcement flicker across the screen tumbled out, “Me too.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you for being patient with me as I got back into my routine at school and needed an extra week for this chapter, hopefully it's worth the wait :) I should be back to regular updates now so no more two week waits in between chapters, enjoy! 
> 
> Also, side note, I did this really dumb thing last week where I accidentally deleted my tumblr so if you followed me on there before (mogirl97.tumblr.com) and want to re-follow, I will be happy to have you back :)

**MONDAY**

When Oliver awoke the next morning he quickly became aware of a weight on his chest and, blinking his eyes open sleepily, he discovered the cause. Felicity must have migrated in her sleep and was now curled up to his side with his chest serving as her pillow and her fingers curled around his bicep. He stilled, debating whether he should try to move her so that she wouldn’t feel embarrassed when she woke up or just leave her be. The decision was made for him when she suddenly opened her eyes and they met his.

“Hi,” he whispered.

“Hi--oh. Oh!” she exclaimed, wide eyed, as she rolled off of him.   

A pang of disappointment hit his chest where she had been nestled a second before. Even though this was the reaction he was expecting, in the back of his mind he had been hoping that she wouldn’t shy away from him.

“I’m sorry, I must have gotten cold in my sleep and moved over to you because you’re so hot. Like temperature wise, I mean you’re also hot as in attractive hot but in this case I was referring to temperature and oh wow I just said out loud that I think you’re hot.” She slammed her eyes shut and took a deep breath as he held back a laugh. His mind flashed back to the night before and the way the moonlight reflected off of her fair skin when she had undressed to get into the water.

_The attraction is definitely mutual._

“Glad to know I’ve still got it with girls that aren’t old enough to be my grandmother,” he remarked, recalling her comment from the day before, which elicited a laugh from her and dissolved some of the embarrassment on her face.

Sliding off the bed of the truck, he dug the box of donuts out of the grocery bag sitting on the passenger seat. When he returned to her, she was sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“You hungry?” he asked, extending the box to her.

“Mhmm,” she replied eagerly, grabbing a powdered sugar donut.

“I think we should aim to get to Pennsylvania today,” he commented while selecting his own donut. “It’s more driving than yesterday but we can get a much earlier start so I don’t think it will be too bad.”

“If you want, I can take a turn driving too,” she offered.

Her tongue peeked out to lick powdered sugar off of her lips and he found himself staring again, trying to remember all the reasons why he was not going to lean in for a sugary sweet kiss. Sure, he had kissed, _more than kissed_ , girls he had spent less time with but there wasn’t usually any feelings involved, and with her it was different. She was endearing herself to him and he didn’t want to make things weird.

Or make it any harder than it already was going to be for him to say goodbye when he would have to leave her in Massachusetts.

She frowned at his silence, “Unless you’re one of those people who are hyper-sensitive about other people driving their cars…”

He shook his head, “What? No, no I might take you up on that later.”

A smile returned to her face, “Good. I don’t want to be a burden.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “Oh yes. Because so far you have been such a  burden. I’ll be sure to steal more of your food today as compensation for having to put up with you.”

Her eyes narrowed and she shoved his shoulder teasingly, “Hey! I’m serious.”

“So am I, order something good at lunch today.” Something she had said last night came back to him and he asked, “Do you really think I could open my own restaurant?”

At his change of topic, her expression changed to something more contemplative, “Well, sure. Not to sound cliché or anything but you can make just about anything happen if you’re willing to work for it. Besides, you would have pretty easy way of getting people in the door initially.” She waved her hand, “The long lost Oliver Queen has returned, come let him cook you dinner. _Intriguing._ And then they’d come back because it would be the best dinner they’d ever had.”

He rolled his eyes, “That might be a stretch, I’m not even a trained chef.”

“Yeah really I’m just trying to flatter you extra hard since you’re my free ride,” she responded with a wink.

“Is that so?” He leaned in close to her and bit back a satisfied smile at the way she swallowed hard and her eyes darted to his lips.

“Unless you had some other way in mind that you wanted to be thanked,” she breathed out and he could see a pink flush spreading across her cheeks.

_Nope._

He definitely wasn’t doing this now, he didn’t want her to think that he had expectations, strings attached to his offer. All he had wanted, _all he still wanted_ , was to make sure she got to Massachusetts for her interview. Nothing more.

Putting some distance between them, he smiled, “You already thanked me, but I will accept the compliments. And the advice. I’m really going to think about this restaurant thing.”

She had averted her eyes and he could see that her face was still a little red when she mumbled, “You should.”

“I don’t know what my parents will think, or if I’m responsible enough to handle it, but I like the idea of having something that is mine. Anyway, will you be ready to leave in 10 minutes?”

She nodded and brushed her hands off on her sweatpants before hopping off the back of the truck and grabbing her bag to walk to the bathhouse. He watched her as she retreated and sighed. They still had a long way to go and a lot of time together, _alone._ When they had first started driving yesterday he hadn’t really anticipated that being any sort of problem. But now… well, that instant crush that he had on her had grown into something more along the way.

* * *

 

“Oooohhh,” Felicity reached over from the passenger seat to smack Oliver’s shoulder excitedly. “A spring carnival! Can we stop?”

It was late afternoon and they had made good time all morning, each taking a turn driving for a few hours on the highway before getting onto some back roads that led to the small town they were passing through now. They filled the time with another listen of Hamilton before a discussion of what should make the menu at his hypothetical restaurant. She could tell that he was warming up to the idea and that some of the hesitance he had had when she first proposed it had started to melt away. When she had suggested calling his parents though, he had shut that down quickly, saying that he needed an actual plan to present to them, not some vague ideas.

_“My move to Oklahoma was the last whim they would entertain. If I’m going to return on my terms, and not just accept their plan for me, I need to prove to them that I’ve done some growing up.”_

_“But you do want to return?”_

_“Yeah, I mean it had crossed my mind a few times lately and the more I think about it, the more I realize how much I miss home. Like you said, I can’t just hide forever and I feel like my time away is coming to an end.”_

To Oliver’s credit he didn’t freak out _too_ much when he found out that she was a little bit of an aggressive driver.

_“If we were driving through my town, you definitely would have barreled someone over. People don’t watch where they’re walking and you apparently drive like a wild woman.”_

_“Thankfully, no one is trying to walk across the highway,” she quipped, weaving in and out of two cars that were going far too slowly._

_“Uh yeah...”_

_She glanced over at Oliver and saw that his eyes were a little wide and his hands were gripping the armrests tightly._

_“Are you okay?”_

_“Yep. Just please keep your eyes on the road.”_

“Thanks to you pulling a fast and furious earlier, I don’t think it will hurt to stop for a little bit,” he obliged, slowing down and pulling into the line of cars waiting to drive into the parking for the carnival as she grinned triumphantly. Once they had found a spot, they joined the crowd of people milling into the field that had been set up with rides, games and food trucks.

At one point she could feel herself getting separated from Oliver and quickly found her hand securely held in his as they navigated themselves out to a less crowded area.

“Flowers for your girl?” a voice asked, and she looked up to see a man holding out an array of fresh flower crowns. A quick glance around the area revealed that many of the attendees were adorned with blooms in their hair.

She slipped her hand out of Oliver’s, “Oh no I’m not---“

“How much?” Oliver interrupted.

“Three dollars.”

“Sold.” Oliver pulled out his wallet and nudged her hip, “Pick one out.”

She picked out a simple daisy chain and placed it on her head before turning to Oliver, “You didn’t have to.”

“You’ve been in the car for the past 2 days and your most recent shower was under a waterfall, this really helps make you look more presentable.”

She stuck out her tongue, “Oh really? Well seeing as you’re in the same boat, maybe I should get one for you.”

Extracting three wrinkled dollar bills from her pocket, she handed them to the man and selected the most ostentatious crown. She rolled up onto her toes and positioned it on top of his head.

“There. Now we both look better.”

He shook his head and laughed, “Thea would find this is hilarious.”

“Here give me your phone, I’ll take a picture you can send to her,” she offered, extending her hand.

He shifted on his feet uncomfortably, “I don’t--- I just think it’s best that there aren’t pictures of me floating around that could accidentally get in the wrong hands. I know it might seem a little paranoid but I haven’t had my picture taken since I left Starling.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense. Well if you want to call Thea at some point I can give her a good description of how ridiculous you look right now.”

“I think you mean ridiculously handsome,” he corrected, looping his arm through hers and guiding her towards the midway.

They were in a long line for balloon darts when Felicity noticed a little girl with pigtails and a bright pink sundress on eyeing Oliver curiously. After a few seconds, she watched as the girl made her way over to them and tugged on Oliver’s arm.

“Why are you wearing that?” she asked. “You look silly.”

“I like this shirt though,” Oliver commented, running his fingers along the hemline. “Are you saying blue isn’t my color?”

Felicity covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smile.

The little girl wrinkled her nose up in amusement and pointed at his head, “No. The flowers.”

Oliver reached a hand up, “Oh. Felicity thinks I look silly too. I bet they would look nice on you though.”

Her eyes widened and she asked shyly, “Really?”

He pulled off the crown and placed it on top of her head, “Very pretty.”

She blushed and mumbled a thank you before running off in the direction she came from.

“The tabloids were right, you do have a way with the ladies,” Felicity teased.

“It’s a blessing and a curse to be this charming,” he quipped, faux seriously, eliciting an eye roll from her.

She was pretty sure she was experiencing the cursed effects of his charm more than he was. At the beginning of the trip she had told herself that she didn’t have time to develop a crush, especially not on someone who wasn’t going to occupy any more than a few days of her life, but she hadn’t counted on it taking no time at all for him to make it seem like butterflies were taking over her insides.

This morning had been a bit like a bucket of cold water though. Of course the thing that she had feared, doing something awkward in her sleep, had happened. And then, to make things worse, her brain to mouth filter had failed her, not just once, but twice, and she said something she hadn’t meant to. Something she didn’t mean. Because she didn’t actually want him to kiss her.

So why had his subtle rejection hit her like a brick?

They had both brushed the interaction off and avoided bringing it up all morning while they were driving, but he hadn’t needed to say anything for the silent pauses to give her mind time to wander to the feeling of his chest rising and falling underneath her, his warm breath tickling her cheeks when he leaned in close to tease her …and then back to the way he had practically put a canyon of distance between them when she had let slip the effect he had on her. She had been foolish to believe, if only for a second, that his admission that he was glad her flight got cancelled was some declaration of feelings for her, or that his flirtations actually meant anything. Foolish to want them to mean anything. Their friendly banter was just a game, a way to fill the hours between here and there, where they would say goodbye to each other and that would be that.

It was just hard for her to remember that when he was making her smile or looking at her like… she noticed Oliver staring at her out of the corner of her eye, well like that.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He blinked out of his gaze and, ignoring her query, tapped her forehead, “Where’d you go?”

“Just think about… stuff,” she replied dismissively.

“You’re not thinking about your interview are you? I told you, there’s no stressing about it during this trip.”

“Well I kind of have to think about it since basically my whole future hinges on it and I can’t let myself get distracted from that,” she snapped, harsher than she intended, her frustration at herself and his confusing actions bubbling over.

He frowned and she immediately felt bad for lashing out.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to---” She sighed and reached for his arm tentatively, “You’re right, I shouldn’t be stressed about it because that won’t affect the outcome.”

Never mind that he actually had no idea what it was that she was stressing about.   

“Exactly. I could be worrying right now about what my parents will think of my restaurant proposal but that’s not going to make their opinion any different. All it will do will keep me from enjoying a nice afternoon at the carnival with a lovely lady,” he flashed her that charming smile of his and she stifled a groan.

He was not helping her resolve at all to not let herself get swept away.

She crossed her arms over her chest, “Twenty minutes ago you were telling me that I was looking dirty and gross from sitting in the car and not taking a real shower, so what is the truth?”

A throat cleared awkwardly and they turned their heads to see that they had made it to the front of the line for the balloon darts game and the attendant was looking at them expectantly.

“Are you two going to play?”

She shook her head, a blush rising in her cheeks, “Oh uh yeah, sorry.”

After an hour or so of friendly competition on the midway, in which they each won enough prizes to distribute to some kids who were eyeing them with jealousy, they found themselves in the queue for the Ferris wheel.

“Do you want some of this?” she asked, extending out her cotton candy.

“You better not tell your mom how much sugar I’ve let you have on this trip,” he teased, grabbing a piece.

She rolled her eyes and muttered, “That’s definitely not what she’s going to be asking about.”

_“Is he as handsome in person?”_

_“What were the sleeping arrangements?”_

_“Did anything,” *wink-wink,* “happen?”_

There was a reason she hadn’t bothered to call yet. Let her sit in suspense a little longer. Not that she had any answers that would bring her mother delight anyway.

They stepped into their gondola of the Ferris wheel and she tried her best to keep her heart from lurching out of her chest when he slung his arm across her shoulder so they could fit more comfortably in the tight space. Looking up she saw that a young couple in a gondola above them were entangled in a passionate kiss and she dropped her eyes to her tightly clasped hands on her lap.

She suddenly realized that she really didn’t want to be in a situation that could lead to something similar to this morning’s debacle. Everything about this felt far too intimate and she was too uncertain as to her own feelings let alone his.  

“I’m afraid of heights,” she blurted out. “Which I just now realized. So maybe we shouldn’t do this.”

Even as she said the words, she knew it was too late. The ride was already in motion and they were beginning their slow ascent to the top.

The only thing she had managed to do was make things worse because now Oliver was rubbing comforting circles on her shoulder and his hand felt like it was setting her skin on fire through the thin material of her shirt.

“Don’t look down, look at the horizon,” he advised.

“That’s for seasickness,” she corrected.

“Okay Miss Smarty Pants, then just look at me.”

She dragged her eyes up to meet his and bit her lip when she realized how close their faces were.

Déjà vu from the morning hit her, but this time she wasn’t going to make the same mistake of thinking that he wanted---

Oh.

His eyes had dropped to her lips and he had tilted his face down even closer to hers.

She wished she had some clue as to what was going through his head. Earlier he had brushed her off and now suddenly…

Ignoring her brain’s protests she began to close the remaining distance between them when the shrill ring of a phone broke the moment and she pulled back as far as the tight space allowed.

She watched as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it.

“What?”

The frustration in his voice was evident and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little pleased that he was obviously disappointed at the interruption. Hopefully it wasn’t his mother he was speaking like that to though.

“Tommy, Thea already told me and I don’t care,” she heard Oliver reply.

Not his mother, that was good.

“Have a nice dinner, don’t do anything dumb or Lance will shoot you. We know the only reason I survived the senior week debacle is because I fled halfway across the country.”

She raised an eyebrow and determined that she was probably better off not knowing what any of that meant.

“Umm, I’m actually not in Oklahoma right now.” Oliver glanced over at her. “It’s a long story but I’m in-- I’m actually not sure what state I’m in.”

“Indiana,” she supplied.

“I’m in Indiana,” Oliver repeated.

“No, I’m not moving farther away from you. I might actually be coming home soon but look, I’ll talk to you later okay. Go have fun with Laurel and don’t let her talk you into Indian, you know you can’t handle spicy food and you’ll just embarrass yourself.”

Oliver laughed at whatever Tommy said in response before hanging up and turning his attention back to her just as their gondola came to a stop back at the bottom.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized as they were ushered off of the ride.

She was conflicted as to whether or not she was glad for the interruption. On one hand, she thought that kissing him was probably a terrible idea seeing as the possibility of anything between them was a total dead end.

On the other hand, she _was_ trying to make this trip memorable and embrace spontaneous decisions.  

He seemed content to follow the same procedure as the morning though and continued along as if nothing had almost happened just a few minutes prior.

“We should probably get back on the road,” he commented, as they walked back towards the entrance to the carnival. “I think we’ve got another 5 hours or so to go tonight to get to Pennsylvania.”

She nodded in agreement before spotting something to her right, “One more thing before we leave though.”

Leading him over to the photo booth that had caught her eye, she slipped inside and he followed.

“There are some advantages to low tech,” she commented. “Very few though.”

He looked at her quizzically and she explained, “No digital trace of these pictures to accidentally end up somewhere you don’t want them.” She leaned forward to push the button, “But I’ll be able to keep them as a way to remember this. Smile!”

Obliging her, he turned to the camera and, as it snapped away, they grinned and pulled faces. When there was one shot left she placed a quick kiss on his cheek that she rationalized was chaste enough to be interpreted as a platonic ‘thank you’. The sound of voices outside the booth waiting for their turn kept them from lingering on the moment anyway and they ducked out quickly to retrieve their photos.

“Not too bad looking for two people in dire need of a shower,” she assessed, smiling at the four images before tucking the strip into her pocket as they continued their walk to the field where they had parked.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your kind and encouraging reviews on this story so far, I'm happy to hear that y'all are enjoying it! I have about two more chapters planned out and then an epilogue, so things are starting to come to a close, but there's still a lot left that needs to happen... if you know what I mean ;) Enjoy the chapter!

Oliver glanced over at Felicity who was sleeping soundly in the passenger seat. They had gone through a drive-through for dinner an hour ago and now they were driving through a rainstorm that pounded melodically on the windshield. Even with the sound of the rain, it felt oddly quiet in the truck without her constant chatter. He had learned quickly that once she got going, she could talk for hours about something that interested her and he enjoyed listening and interjecting every once in awhile when she paused for a breath. Her passion was infectious and the more they discussed it, the more she was making him believe that he could actually pursue opening his own restaurant in Starling.

The silence gave him some much needed time to think through the events of the day though.

The spot on his cheek that her lips had brushed against in the photo booth still felt like it was burning hours later and he could only imagine what her soft mouth would feel like pressed against his.

It wasn’t just attraction that he felt for her though. She had brightened his world from that first night they had met in the diner and his fondness for her had only grown during their travels.

He knew she was attracted to him, but maybe that was it. She had agreed with him that her flight’s cancellation had turned out to be a positive thing, but maybe that had more to do with the fact that she was getting an unexpected and well-deserved vacation than it had to do with him. Maybe she didn’t care that they only had a few days left together because she was perfectly content with him just passing through her life. He didn’t know why he couldn’t just bring himself to actually go through with kissing her, let her know how he felt, and see what happened from there, but every time they were so close, there was something that pulled him back.

The problem was that their lives were going in two completely opposite directions. Was there really any point of acting on the feelings he had for her, only to have to say goodbye to her in a few days, possibly never to see her again? They had almost kissed on the Ferris wheel, but Tommy’s interruption had reminded him of the home that he was planning on returning to, the home on the complete opposite side of the country from Massachusetts.

He shook his head. Overthinking this wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

What he did need to think about was where they were going to stop for the night. His eyelids were growing heavy and the thought of climbing into a bed was highly appealing. Pulling over to the side of the road momentarily since his navigator was asleep, he pulled out his phone and searched for nearby lodgings. The first result was a bed and breakfast housed in an old Inn only an hour away, and with good reviews, so he set his course for the address and blinked back the tiredness.

When they arrived at the B&B, Felicity was still sound asleep and he reached over to gently nudge her awake.

“Felicity…”

“Just five more minutes,” she groaned, swatting his hand away, her eyes remaining firmly shut.

Another attempt to rouse her failed as well so, with a sigh, he got out of the truck and walked around to the passenger side to unbuckle her and scoop her up into his arms. Instead of the movement waking her up like he had hoped, she curled snugly into him and he could hear her snore softly. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her obliviousness to the circumstances, he headed for the entrance to the B&B where inside a young girl and boy, who neither could have been older than ten, were sitting on top of the front desk coloring.

“Ummm…” he began awkwardly, unsure of how to approach the subject of checking in with the two children. “Do you guys have any rooms available?”

“Is she dead?” the little boy blurted out, pointing his crayon at Felicity.

Oliver looked down at Felicity and smiled in amusement, “Ahh no, Sleeping Beauty here just didn’t want to wake up.”

“Obviously it’s because you didn’t kiss her,” the girl commented smartly, not looking up from her drawing.

For a fraction of a second Oliver startled at how she could possible know about his reluctance to kiss Felicity until he realized she was referring to his Sleeping Beauty comment.

“Are your parents here?” Oliver asked, hoping to get back around to the topic of a room.

The boy shrugged, “Yeah, Dad’s upstairs with Mommy because she’s not feeling good.”

Oliver shifted Felicity in his arms, “Oh… so are you guys closed?”

“No it’s okay, we’re in charge!” the girl exclaimed excitedly. She turned around to look at a row of hooks hanging on the wall, a few with keys on them. “We have lots of guests right now but you can fit too.”

At her loud exclamation, Felicity blinked her eyes open and looked around in confusion. “Where are we?” she muttered sleepily as he set her down onto her feet gently.

“A bed and breakfast,” he explained. “But umm, I’m not sure if they’re actually still open for the night or not.”

A voice came from behind them, “We’re open.”

The man who had spoken stepped into view and addressed the children, “Go finish getting ready for bed, thanks for keeping an eye on things.”

While they gathered up their coloring supplies and scurried up the stairs, the man turned back to Oliver and Felicity. “My apologies. I didn’t think anyone would be arriving this late without a reservation. Welcome to the Campbell Inn.” He extended a hand, “I’m Peter.”

Oliver shook his hand, “Oliver and this is…”

Felicity shook his hand as well, “Felicity. We’re on a bit of an unplanned trip, hence the no reservation. I hope that’s okay?”

“Of course, it’s a busy week but we still have some rooms available.”  

Oliver remembered the comment that the little boy had made earlier and inquired, “Your children, they said that your wife was sick, are you sure it’s alright for us---“

Peter cut him off with a warm laugh, “Sick of being pregnant, that’s all. I don’t think you’ll need to worry about catching that.”

“We’d love a room then,” Felicity replied and he could hear the tiredness in her voice despite her nap.

Peter walked around the desk and looked at the row of keys on the wall, “Hmm. The only rooms I have left are with two smaller beds, but I can push them together for you. I know it’s not ideal but---“

“Oh no that’s fine,” Felicity interrupted him. “Two separate beds is good. Perfect.”

Peter looked at her curiously but didn’t comment as he pulled out a stack of papers.

Oliver’s heart sank a bit at the realization that he wasn’t going to wake up to her curled up with him again. This was not how it worked in the movies. When had it ever been the case that there was only _two_ beds available?

Her quick agreement to the separate beds seemed to answer the questions that had been on his mind earlier anyways. He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, so a little physical distance would probably be for the best, even if he couldn’t fully push aside the disappointment he felt.

_Why did the first girl he had been truly interested in for years also have to be someone he didn’t really think he could have much of a chance with?_

Peter pushed a paper across the desk to Oliver, “If you’ll just fill this out real quick, then I’ll show you up to your room. Breakfast is served at 8. Probably. I’m not very good at cooking but I don’t think my wife will be on her feet too early tomorrow so hopefully I can follow one of her recipes without burning the whole place down.”

Oliver felt Felicity lean on his arm as he began to fill out the paperwork, “Oliver is an amazing cook, so maybe he could help?”

“Oh I wouldn’t want to ask that of him…” Peter began.

Oliver glanced up at him, “I’d love to.”

A look of relief passed over his face and he reached for the paper, “Well, then consider your stay free of charge. I’ll have the kitchen unlocked for you in the morning, all of my wife’s recipes and the ingredients are in there. We have 25 people to serve, including you two and my family. Think you can manage?”

“No problem. I’ll have everything ready by 8,” Oliver promised, his hands already itching to get to work after a few days out of the kitchen. Cooking would help take his mind off of his traveling partner as well, if only for a little bit.

Peter shook his head, “I can’t even tell you how grateful I am. Let’s get you two settled so you can get a good night’s sleep.”

They followed him up a narrow staircase that led to a landing adorned with a thick rug and framed paintings of mountains set against the wood paneling on the walls. Two doors down the hallway, Peter unlocked a door and ushered them into the neat, cozy room. The two beds filled most of the floor space and there was a narrow divide between them where a bedside table was wedged in and stacked with books and a lamp. Peter pointed out the door in the corner that led to the bathroom and assured that it was stocked with fresh towels.

Felicity walked over to one of the bed’s and ran her hand along the bedspread. “So clean,” she whispered gleefully.

A confused look appeared on Peter’s face and Oliver explained, “The last room she checked into was a Motel 6 with a questionable inspection record.”

“And then I slept in the back of a truck, which was fun for a night,” she hastily added. “But I am so ready for this bed.”

“Well I’ll leave you to it then,” Peter replied with a smile, before turning to Oliver. “Downstairs, just take the left hallway past the foyer, the kitchen is the second door to the right. I’ll be up bright and early though if you have any questions.”

Oliver nodded and Peter left, leaving them alone with a weird tension in the room that Oliver felt might have something to do with things being unresolved on the Ferris wheel that afternoon. In the moment they had brushed it off, but it seemed to have further changed the dynamic between them and made the intimacy of the situation different than it had been the previous night in the park.  This was what he had been debating in his head what to do about for the past few hours though with no resolution.

Finally Felicity spoke up, “So… umm, I’m going to take a shower. Unless you wanted to go first.”

“No, no. You go.” He glanced at the clock, “I think I’m going to call the diner and make sure everything’s still running smoothly there.”

“Will it be hard for you to leave? The diner,” she clarified, digging through her bag for her toiletries.  

“Yeah, definitely. I really like it there; the customers, the people who I work with. But---“ he paused and tried to put his finger on why he was starting to believe that it was time for him to move on.

“But it’s not home,” she supplied, looking up at him.   

He nodded, “It’s not home. And I feel like I’ve reached the point where I’ve learned everything I could from there. Now that I’ve had a chance to take a step back from everything these past few days, I can see that maybe it’s gotten a little too easy to just hide from everything that’s waiting for me back in Starling, the expectations, the responsibilities, the messes I left unresolved. It won’t be easy to go back and face all of that, but I think it will be worth it. I’ve built a good life in Oklahoma, but it’s missing the places that hold so many memories and the people that I care about that could make it really feel like home.”

She fiddled with the zipper on her hoodie, “I don’t think I’ll ever want to go back to Las Vegas once I get out of there for good. Even though I’ve lived there for as long as I can remember, I never really felt like I belonged, but I’m hoping that maybe I’ll find what home feels like in Massachusetts.”

He smiled, “I hope you find that too.”

That’s what this trip was about after all. No matter how unexpectedly complicated things had gotten along the way, the reason he had offered to drive her was because he wanted her to be able to take this opportunity for a future that she had worked so hard for and deserved. Even if that meant saying goodbye to her long before he was ready to.

She returned his smile. “Thanks. So umm…” She pivoted on her heel towards the bathroom and tossed over her shoulder, “I’ll be quick.”

She disappeared into the bathroom and he dialed the number for the diner.

After a brief chat with Camille who had taken over the after-hours prep in his absence, Felicity emerged from the bathroom in her pajamas, a cloud of steam following her.

“It’s all yours,” she announced, tilting her head at the door.

He grabbed his things and, standing up to walk over, found himself with only a few inches between them. She was backed up against the bathroom door, the wall and one of the beds blocking them in on either side. At this proximity he was able to smell her lemony shampoo, feel the warmth coming off of her skin from the hot shower, and see the little water droplets that were still clinging to her eyelashes and he was frozen in place.

“Sorry,” she muttered, dipping her head and attempting to scoot around him. “It’s a little tight in here.”

They both moved to the right and then the left before she laughed nervously, “Okay, I’m going to go to the right. My right. So your left.”

Sidestepping each other successfully this time, he made it into the bathroom and turned the shower on. As the water fell around him, he filled his mind with quiche and baked french toast ideas instead of the person on the other side of the door.

* * *

 

Felicity folded her clothes from the day and shoved them into her suitcase with the rest of her dirty clothes. Before she zipped the suitcase close, her eyes caught the photo strip that was still tucked into her jeans and she pulled it out. Smoothing out the slightly wrinkled paper, she eyed the images one more time and then slid it carefully into a pocket in her laptop case. After they got to Massachusetts and they went their separate ways, she would be happy to have those four snapshots as a reminder that, even though the past few days had felt like she was living in a movie plot, they had actually happened. She wasn’t sure that she would ever have the chance again to just live in the moment quite so much.

Even with her nap in the truck, she was still feeling tired and she laid down on her bed, listening to the shower running in the bathroom. She was grateful for the sleeping arrangement because she couldn’t trust her emotions and the control they seemed to have on her actions when she got too close to him. Unless he actually made it clear what was going through his head in regards to her, she wanted to keep her distance to avoid only adding to the confusion she felt.  

It wasn’t long before she could feel her eyelids closing and she was only vaguely aware of Oliver reentering the room and draping a blanket over her.

When she woke up the next morning, the room was empty. Rolling over to check the time on her phone, she saw that it was a little past seven and figured that Oliver must be downstairs in the kitchen getting ready for breakfast. After brushing her teeth and smoothing out her ponytail, she padded out into the hallway and down to the kitchen. A peek into the doorway confirmed her suspicions and she walked in to bid him good morning.

“Good morning,” he echoed. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Good pick on the place. What are you making?”

“Apple cinnamon baked french toast, roasted vegetable quiche, hash browns, and bacon,” he listed off.

Her stomach grumbled in response, “Sounds amazing.”

“Do you want to help? I’ve been up since 6, so most of the prep is done I just have to assemble and bake everything now.”

She raised an eyebrow, “I thought we’ve established that I can’t cook.”

“Mmm,” he reached for her hand and tugged her over to him gently. “You’re not a bad sous chef as long as I give you tasks that are nearly impossible to be messed up,” he teased.

He grabbed an apron for her and this time when he tied it on her, unlike a few days ago back at the diner, she could tell he was intentionally lingering. If she tipped her head just slightly he could have access to her neck and she bit her lip at the thought of his soft lips and rough stubble on her delicate skin. She was getting to the point now where, even though it wasn’t realistic to think that they could have any sort of relationship beyond this trip, she would still _really_ like to take advantage of the opportunity that the present held to be kissed by him.

He coughed awkwardly and stepped back, “So umm, how about you get started with layering the french toast so we can get that in the oven.”

Unfortunately, it never felt like he was on the same page as her and she reminded herself of why she needed to keep some distance.

She watched as he grabbed a loaf of bread, a large metal mixing bowl from the fridge, and a glass baking dish and set up a work station for her. Walking over to join him, she observed carefully as he demonstrated how thick to cut the slices of bread. He handed her the knife and she took his place at the cutting board to make her first slice.

It didn’t go well.

Her cut was jagged and created a mess of crumbs. Exhaling in frustration, she turned to him, “How did you make that look so easy?”

“You can’t just push the knife down like you’re chopping something. Back and forth sawing motions,” he advised, coming back over to her. “Try it again.”

She followed his directions and was much more successful. Glancing over her shoulder at him, she received a nod of approval and then turned back to finish slicing the loaf.

“What now?” she asked.

He reached around her for the glass pan and set it in front of her, “Pour a layer of the liquid in the bowl into the bottom of this, then add the bread, a layer of these apples, and then the rest of the liquid goes on top.”

She set to her task and he walked away to go work on something else but she was hyper aware of the quick glances he kept throwing in her direction.

“Am I doing this right?” she finally asked when she caught him out of the corner of her eye again.

He blinked, “Wha—oh yeah. It looks great. You can put it in the top oven when you’re done, it’s already pre-heated.”

Pouring the last drops of the egg, cinnamon, and milk layer over top of the bread and apples, she carried the baking dish over to the oven and slid it in. When she closed the oven door and turned around, she startled to see Oliver standing right in front of her only inches away.

The sound of surprise that came from her was quickly muffled by his lips crashing into hers. His hands framed her face and once her initial shock wore off, she wrapped her arms around his waist, her fingers clutching the fabric of his t-shirt. He smelled like cinnamon and bacon and his nose brushed against hers as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. All too quickly, he pulled away but she kept her eyes closed for another second to make the moment last.

“Finally,” she whispered, his soft laugh making her aware that the comment had been made out loud.

He opened his mouth to say something in return but they were disrupted by Peter’s arrival into the kitchen.

“Well it sure smells good in here,” he commented, oblivious to how close she and Oliver were standing to each other and the blush that was spreading from her nose to her toes.

Oliver shuffled away from her to address Peter, “I hope you don’t mind, your wife has some really great recipes but I decided to make some of my own that are favorites at the diner I work at.”

He waved a hand dismissively, “Oh that’s no trouble. She might want you to share them though if they go over well the guests. They’re starting to trickle down from their rooms so I’m just going to get some coffee out. We’re still good to start serving the food at 8?”

Oliver nodded, “Yes. Most everything’s in the oven, I just have to finish frying up the bacon.”

“Good, good,” Peter muttered as he fiddled with the coffee makers.

It quickly became apparent that they weren’t going to have any more alone time in the kitchen that morning so the kiss would have to go unmentioned until later.

Felicity wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, just a reminder that I accidentally deleted my tumblr a little bit ago so if you were following me there before and want to follow again and you still haven't yet, I would love to have you back :) I have a new au one-shot in the works that will be up on there first and I don't want you guys to miss it ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I know I said last week that there was going to be two more chapters left before the epilogue but it ended up not making sense to split this last section into two chapters, so next week will be the epilogue. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to comments this week but I did read all of them and I really appreciate your feedback and encouragement! Enjoy the chapter :)

“So…. breakfast was a hit.”

Oliver glanced over at Felicity as they made their way up the stairs to retrieve their belongings from their room before getting on the road for the final leg of their trip. With Peter’s arrival into the kitchen snapping them back into chef mode, they hadn’t had much of a chance to fully process what had just happened moments before and it wasn’t exactly a conversation they were going to have over the communal breakfast table.

The entire time though he had been reminiscing about her soft lips and rosy cheeks and the contentment in her voice when she had uttered, “finally.”

Her comment about the food caught him off guard and it took him a second before he pulled himself back into the present and responded, “You can’t go wrong with french toast.”

“Mmm,” she nodded in agreement and pushed open the door to their room.

As soon as the door was shut behind them she turned to face him and they spoke up at the same time, “So---“ “About that---“

“You first,” she insisted.

He shook his head, “No, no, go ahead.”

“Okay.” She dropped her gaze to her hands which she was wringing together, “So I think we should agree now to just not think about it.”

He frowned in confusion and disappointment, “Oh.” 

That wasn’t what he was going to say at all.

She looked up at him and clarified hastily, “No, not the kiss. Believe me, I’ve been thinking about that. Lots of thoughts. Really nice ones. Which is why I don’t want to think about the fact that my interview is tomorrow and then the day after that I’m getting on a plane and heading back to Las Vegas and that will be that.”

Yeah, he didn’t like thinking about that either. It had been on his mind though, which was why he had hesitated so many times when presented with an opportunity to kiss her. That morning in the kitchen though, he had shoved all those thoughts aside and he wouldn’t argue with keeping them out of both of their minds until they had to consider them again.

“I’ve spent most of my life preoccupied with making all of my decisions based on the future though and I’ve been trying to not do that so much on this trip. So with the time left, let’s just let whatever happens… happen.” She smiled shyly, “Agreed?”

He reached out and took her hand in his, “Agreed.”

Her smile widened into a grin, “Good.”

She tilted her face up and he took the invitation to press a quick kiss to her lips before pulling back before things could go further.

“We have to get on the road now if we’re going to get into Cambridge at a reasonable time tonight,” he explained when she pouted.

She sighed, “You’re right.”

_ Let whatever happens, happen. _

Well he certainly was an expert at that. Sometimes---  _ most of the time _ , that hadn’t ended so well for him, but it was better than never finding out what could have been.

* * *

 

Felicity untangled her fingers from Oliver’s to double check the address for the apartment they were going to be staying at. They had spent the hours in the car making good on their agreement to not discuss their impending goodbye and instead talked about anything else. She had been so surprised by the kiss in the kitchen that morning, but it had been a relief to have the tension that had been brewing between them finally snap. Whether or not it was the right decision to open herself up to a potentially more painful heartbreak in a few days, she wasn’t sure. When he pulled to the side of a quiet back road a few hours into their drive that morning to lean over and kiss her though, it certainly  _ felt _ like the right decision. 

They navigated their way to the street where the apartment she had booked was located and drove around to find a place to park. The streets were filled with people milling about, coming out of late dinners at the restaurants and slipping into bars, and Felicity took it all in quietly. This city would soon be where she would live, assuming that tomorrow was a success, of course, and she tried to visualize it as home. Coming from a city as flashy and extravagant as Las Vegas, it was like being in a whole other world.

Once they had found a parking spot they made their way up to the third floor of a brick building and checked in with the hostess to let her know that they had arrived. Dropping her bags on the floor of the small living space, a yawn cracked across her face.

“I think I’m going to head to bed. My interview isn’t until the afternoon but I’m doing a tour of the campus and meeting with an academic advisor in the morning.” She suddenly realized that he was in for a long day of boredom by himself tomorrow and she didn’t want to just assume he would want to stick around for that just because they had kissed. “I mean, technically you can just leave in the morning if you want. You got me here like you promised and I’m grateful and---“

“Felicity,” he cut her off and pulled her into an embrace. “I’m not leaving. Not until I have to. Enjoying every moment we have left, right?”

She rested her chin on his chest to look up at him, “Right.”

He kissed the tip of her nose, “You can go get ready for bed, and I’ll be in in a little bit. I’m going to call Thea quick.”

Nodding, she untangled herself from him and retrieved her suitcase from the floor. In the bathroom she brushed her teeth and washed her face before examining her reflection in the mirror.  

_ Tomorrow. _

Tomorrow was the day that would change her life one way or the other.

Even with the unexpected twist that Oliver had brought into this adventure, at the end of the day, it was still about her interview. About her future. As much as she had tried not to worry about it for the past couple of days, it had still creeped into her mind on more than one occasion. She wanted this scholarship, this opportunity, more than anything and it all hinged on her saying the right things and having the right answers. Her head started to ache as the stress crashed in on her in waves.

Her mom’s words echoed in her head…

_ “…you put together a presentation that’s so good I don’t understand a word of it so it’ll definitely impress the people at that genius school.” _

_ But what if it doesn’t impress them? _

She took a deep breath and pressed her fingers to her temples. If there was anything that she was always confident in, it was her smarts and abilities.

But she had never had so much riding on them.

Striding out of the bathroom and into the bedroom she saw that Oliver was sitting on the edge of the bed still taking his shoes off.

He looked up at her, “Are you---“

She cut him off, pressing his on his chest and straddling his lap before leaning in close, her lips millimeters from his, and breathing out, “I need a distraction.”

He swallowed and reached up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear before replying, “I can help with that.”

** WEDNESDAY **

Felicity blinked her eyes open sleepily as light streamed in the through the window blinds. She glanced over at Oliver who was sleeping soundly on his stomach beside her. Pressing a delicate kiss in between his bare shoulder blades, she slid off the bed and padded towards the bathroom, wincing slightly at the soreness between her legs. A quick look at the time on her phone made her realize she had plenty of time to make herself presentable before she needed to be on campus and that her mom had sent her a text last night wishing her good luck. She shot a quick reply to her mom before digging through her suitcase and pulling her dress.

In the bathroom she shed Oliver’s t-shirt that she had ended up in at some point during the night, a small smile on her face as she remembered how he had gone about distracting her from her worries about her interview. The nerves were still there this morning, but it was more of an excited jitter than the crushing pressure she had been feeling the night before when she had been in her head far too much. 

She could do this.

After showering, blow drying and curling her hair, and applying some makeup, she shimmied into her dress and walked back into the bedroom. Oliver was no longer in bed so she grabbed her blazer out of her suitcase and headed out into the main room of the apartment. She found him inspecting the kitchen and bade him good morning before asking for his help zipping up her dress. He swept her hair over her shoulder before his hands glided up her back with the zipper and he kissed the back of her neck before moving her hair back into place.

“I couldn’t really find anything that could become breakfast,” he apologized.

She turned around to face him, “It’s okay. I’m pretty sure if I ate anything I would just throw it up anyway.”

“Nervous?” he asked.

“A little,” she shrugged. “But I’m ready.”

“Good, because they’re going to love you. How could they not?”

She smiled, “Thanks.”

“And, I will make sure to have an amazing celebratory dinner ready for you tonight.”

“Mmmm, I guess I better go get us a reason to celebrate then…” She started to gather up the things she would need for the day.

“Do you want me to drive you over to the campus?”

She shook her head, “No, it’s not too far and I have time so I think I’ll just walk. I want to see the city a bit on my way.”

“Okay. Keep me posted when you get out of your interview?”

“Of course.” She slid her feet into her ballet flats and gave him one last kiss before heading for the door.

“Hey Felicity?”

She glanced back at him, “Yeah?”

“Last night…”

She returned his sheepish smile, “Yeah. I guess that happened.”

“I’m glad it did,” he admitted.

“Me too.”

Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about the fact that she wasn’t going to be glad that she had let herself get too close to him when she got on a plane that would take her far away from him tomorrow.

Now was the time to think about securing a scholarship to MIT.

* * *

 

Wandering around the campus, she looked at the map on her phone and back up at the expanse of buildings in front of her. She bit her lip and tried to figure out how to get to the admissions office was located. As she began to walk towards the direction she thought was right and keep an eye on her map, she accidentally bumped into a guy who was making his way across the same sidewalk.

“Oh I’m so sorry,” she apologized, looking up at him.

He smiled lazily at her and she realized that he was kind of cute. I mean, she had just spent the night in the arms of Oliver Queen, aka probably the most handsome man on the planet, but since he wasn’t really an actual possibility for her, it was good to know that there might be some guys at school who would be nice to look at.

“It’s okay,” he assured her. “Do you need some help finding something?”

“Umm, yeah I do actually. I’m looking for the admissions offices?”

He turned and pointed at the building she was heading towards, “You’re going in the right direction. Keep going along this path and then take a left. They’re in the building with the columns. Once you get there, someone should be there to show you to where you need to go.”

“Thanks.”

“No proble—“

“Hey Cooper! You coming man?” A guy called from across the lawn and caught their attention.

The guy who she had bumped into, Cooper apparently, waved at him before turning back to her, “I’ve got to go. Maybe I’ll see you around next semester?”

She shrugged, “Maybe.”

“Alright,” he smiled at her again before walking off to join his friend.

Following his directions she found her way to the building she needed to be at to begin her long day.

* * *

 

Oliver looked up from the stove at the sound of the door opening, “So? How’d everything go?”

He had gotten a text 20 minutes ago from her letting him know that she was on her way back, but she hadn’t mentioned anything else. 

Felicity dropped her bag on the couch and removed her shoes, “The tour was great, I got to see some of the laboratories I’ll get to work in and there was stuff in there that I’ve only ever read about. My academic advisor and I went over the accelerated track I was hoping to do to double major and get my master’s degree in less time than normal and she seems confident that, while it’s super ambitious, it’s plausible. Of course all of this is hinging on whether or not I get the scholarship and can actually afford to attend. After my interview, I feel pretty good about my chances. They said if I’m one of the chosen recipients, I’ll get a call by 7pm letting me know.” 

He glanced at the clock and saw that she might be waiting for another three hours.

She walked into the kitchen, “Ooooh whatever you’re making smells amazing.”

“It’s chicken cordon bleu. I figured you’d be hungry for an earlier dinner since you weren’t interested in eating before your interview.”

Her stomach growled and she laughed, “You guessed correctly.”

“Okay well, it’ll still be another 20 minutes until it’s ready. Do you think you’ll survive until then?”

She tilted her head in faux contemplation, “I think I’ll be alright. I’m going to go change quick.”

Remembering helping her with her zipper that morning, he asked, “Do you need help getting out of your dress?”

She waggled her eyebrows, “I don’t know, are you offering your services? Oh, wait, no that’s right I actually do need help.”

He shook his head in amusement as she backed up to him and his hands caressed the soft skin of her back while he dragged the zipper down.

“What time is your flight tomorrow morning?” he asked, his chest tight.

“Shh…” She spun around and pressed a finger to his lips. “We’re not thinking about that yet.”

He watched her as she retreated into the bedroom and wondered how he could possibly not think about it. It had been easy to ignore the impending goodbyes when they were still days away but now he had less than 24 hours left with her and he wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to let her go.

Shaking his head, he got back to work in the kitchen. A few minutes later Felicity emerged dressed in sweatpants and a Caesar’s Palace t-shirt, her glasses a little lopsided and her hair pulled up into a ponytail.

“I hope this isn’t supposed to be a fancy dinner,” she remarked jokingly as she seated herself at one of the barstools facing into the kitchen. “Is that cake you’re making?”

Oliver tilted the mixing bowl towards her to reveal rich chocolate-y batter, “Yep.”

She clutched a hand to her chest, “You know the way to my heart.”

If only it was so uncomplicated.

He smiled and handed her the spoon when he was finished with it, watching her eyes widen in delight as her tongue peeked out to taste the batter. A few minutes later the timer on the oven dinged and he pulled out the chicken. They ate in relative silence and Oliver knew that her mind was elsewhere waiting for her phone to ring.

After they finished dessert, he watched as she paced back and forth, phone in hand and glancing the time every so often. Finally at 6:54, the phone began to ring and she scrambled to answer it.

“Yes, this is she….. mhhmm….. okay….. thank you so much….. I’m looking forward to it as well…. mhhmm….great…. It was nice meeting you today too…. Okay, talk to you soon…”

She hung up and he looked at her expectantly. A huge grin that she had been containing split across her face and she jumped up and down excitedly.

“I did it! I got the scholarship!”

He hoisted her up in his arms and swung her around, “Congratulations!”

When he set her down tears started to well up in her eyes and slip down her cheeks and he brushed them away gently, “I hope those are happy tears.”

She nodded, “They are, I promise. I guess I’m a little sad though because there’s someone who I weirdly kind of wish I could share this news with, but I can’t.”

She didn’t elaborate and he had a feeling it wasn’t his place to press. Instead he suggested that she call her mom.

“Oh yeah,” she brightened. “I think I should be able to catch her now before she goes in for her dinner shift.”

* * *

 

Felicity shut the door to the bedroom and dialed her mom’s number, “Mom?”

“Hey baby! I’ve been waiting for you to call all day!”

“I did it mom, I got the scholarship!”

She pulled the phone away from her ear as her mom shrieked in excitement, “I am so proud of you honey!”

“Thanks mom.”

“Of course I’m also sad because that means you’re going to be leaving me all alone and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with myself when I’m not being your mother.” She could hear her mom start to sniffle, “That’s been my whole life, taking care of you. It feels like just yesterday that you were sitting on the bar at the Grand and I was feeding you nachos and now you’re all grown up.”

“Even when I’m away at school, you’re still going to be my mother,” she pointed out.

“I know, it’s just not the same.”

A question wiggled in the back of her mind, begging to be asked, and she took a deep breath.

“Mom, do you think Dad would be proud of me?”

As much as he had hurt her by leaving and she had tried so hard to move on from that, there was always going to be that part of her that was still a little girl wanting her father to acknowledge her achievements. Wanting to hear his laugh again as he scolded her for stealing parts of his computers to build her own, but beaming with pride all the same.

Her mom paused before answering, “Oh baby, I _know_ he would be proud of you. I'm sorry that he's not the sort of father who can tell you that in person." 

She blinked back a few tears, “It’s okay. Thanks mom, for everything.”

“I don’t want to ruin the moment and you’re probably going to hate me for this but I just have to ask… what was it like spending a few days with Oliver Queen?”

Shaking her head in amusement because she was totally anticipating this, she answered vaguely, “Umm… we’ve had a good time.”

“Like a _good,_ good time?" 

She blushed, “Err… yes.”

Another shriek of excitement before, “Is it going to be hard to say goodbye to him tomorrow? You are coming home tomorrow right? I think that’s what I saw on the calendar…”

“Yes, I’m flying back tomorrow morning. And it’ll be hard to say goodbye, but I’ll be okay. The whole point of this trip was to get this scholarship, not a boyfriend.” 

That was what she kept reminding herself of.

“Right,” her mom agreed, although she could still hear a trace of wistfulness in her voice. “Well I won’t keep you from any of the time you have left with that gorgeous man and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” she echoed before hanging up.

Standing up from the bed, she walked over to the door and cracked it open, “Hey, I’m done on the phone now….”

Oliver slipped into the bedroom and ran his hands up and down her arms softly, leaving trails of goosebumps. Neither of them seemed to be in the mood for talking because could only lead to a conversation they weren’t ready for yet.

She looked up at him expectantly and he removed her glasses, setting them aside and reaching behind her to free her hair from its ponytail. Sliding her hands down his chest, she tugged on the hem of his shirt and he helped her pull it up over his head before dropping it on the floor. Her shirt followed his and he walked her backwards to the edge of the bed where he eased her down gently. She closed her eyes as his lips met hers in a kiss that tasted like the chocolate cake they had eaten earlier and she let any thoughts of the next morning slip from her mind.

** THURSDAY **

Oliver hovered over her, pressing kisses across her cheeks, “Don’t get on your flight this morning. Let me drive you back to Vegas.”

She sighed and reached up to cup his face with her hand, “Oliver… that’s just delaying the inevitable. It’s only going to get harder to say goodbye.”

He rolled off of her and she turned on her side to face him. This was the moment that she had been dreading.

“So this is it?” he asked. “We’re not going to even give things a try?”

As much as she hated to, it looked like she was going to have to be the one to rip the band aid off.

She frowned, “I really like you, I do, and I’m so grateful for what you’ve done for me in helping me get here. I think we both know that what happened along the way between us doesn’t change the fact that this trip was always going to come to an end though and it just doesn’t make sense for us to try to force something that’s not meant to be. I’m going to be super busy with schoolwork and you’re about to embark on opening a restaurant on the other side of the country.”

He pressed his eyes shut, “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m glad that our paths got to cross though. This trip was something that I really needed.”

He smiled sadly, “I needed it too. Who knows how long I would have stayed in Oklahoma if I didn’t get a chance to realize I was ready to move on with my life.”

She took his hands in hers, “I hope you find someone who fits perfectly into that life. You’re a great guy Oliver, no matter what mistakes you’ve made in the past, and you deserve that.” Her phone beeped with a reminder and made her realize that it was time for her to get ready to leave for the airport. “Umm, so yeah… I have to leave soon.”

“I’ll take you to the airport.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course.”

* * *

 

Oliver kissed her forehead as he bade her goodbye one last time before watching her disappear into the terminal. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to just forget about her, forget the way she made him feel, but he knew what could keep him distracted for at least some time.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed a number he hadn’t called in a while, “Dad? I have a proposal for you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please refrain from coming at me with pitchforks until after the epilogue ;)


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys, we've made it to the end. I hope you've enjoyed going on this trip with Oliver and Felicity as much as I've enjoyed writing it :) Thank you so much for all of your support and encouragement! I've already got a few other stories started and I'm sure I'll be posting soon, so keep your eyes out for those ;)

**2 Years Later**

Felicity tapped her toe impatiently as she stood in the long line for package pickup, folding the small slip of paper she had found in her mailbox that morning announcing she had a package into a smaller and smaller square. It was rare for her to get packages. Freshman year, her mom had sent small care packages every few weeks, but ever since they had fought over her not coming home for the summer, the packages had stopped coming as often. She knew she had hurt her mom by making her feel like she didn’t want her to be involved in her life, but she just never felt like they were on the same page anymore.

Finally she made it to the front of the line and was handed a medium sized package that felt heavy for its size with “contains perishables” and overnight shipping labels on it. The handwriting on the address wasn’t familiar and she knew it wasn’t from her mom. It was the return label that caught her eye though. More specifically, the city.

**Starling City.**

Her curiosity piqued, she walked back to her dorm room quickly and retrieved a pair of scissors from her desk to slice open the box. What she pulled out was a very carefully packaged… chocolate cake. Biting her lip, she reached for the note that was sitting at the bottom of the box.

_Felicity-_

_Was making a batch of cakes for the grand opening today and thought of you. Hopefully it survived the mail okay. If you ever accidentally end up in Starling, you should stop in at the restaurant and I’ll serve you a freshly baked slice._

_Oliver_

It was the first time she had heard from him in over a year. To be fair, he had tried to keep in touch at first, but when she had kept ignoring him, he stopped. It was selfish and rude, she knew that. The guilt had gnawed at her every time she deleted a voicemail without even listening to it, but it had been easier for her to move on if she just forgot about him. Easier to pretend that the time they had spent together had just been a wonderful dream. It had been too perfect anyway, and there was no place in her real world for that.

Seeing the perfectly frosted chocolate cake in front of her opened the floodgates for the memories.

She reached for a fork and her laptop and did a quick search while she took her first few bites of the chocolatey deliciousness that was unrivaled.  

_Oliver Queen restaurant_

When the first article loaded, she dropped her fork that was loaded up with a bite of cake onto her lap in surprise.

**_Oliver Queen Opens New Restaurant_ **

> This evening marks the grand opening of Oliver Queen’s new venture, _Felicity_ , a restaurant that he describes as serving upscale remakes of traditional American diner cuisine. When the eldest child of Queen Consolidated CEO, Robert Queen, made his return to Starling last year, no one anticipated that it would be as an aspiring chef and restaurateur. However, reservations at _Felicity_ are expected to be completely filled for months with the buzz that has been generated leading up to its opening. When asked where the inspiration for the name came from, Oliver responded, “Felicity means happiness and I have found a lot of happiness in the kitchen. I hope that people can create happy memories around a table at the restaurant.” A source close to him later revealed that the restaurant wouldn’t have come about if it wasn’t for some advice Oliver received from a woman named Felicity. One can only speculate who this mystery girl might be…

Felicity stopped reading the article there and realized that there were tears in her eyes. Clicking over to the tab that her email was pulled up on, she dug around in the trash for an email she had deleted a few days ago.

_Congratulations! We are excited to inform you that you have been chosen for one of our coveted internships at Queen Consolidated: Applied Sciences. Our team was very impressed with your application and we look forward to your contributions this summer…_

One of her professors had nudged her to apply and she had filled out the application for it on a whim with no real intention of actually pursuing the internship. When she had first received the email notifying her that she had gotten accepted, she had dismissed it without a second thought, but now…

No. That door was closed; she had firmly slammed it shut.

Looking up from her computer, she caught a glance at her reflection in the mirror on the wall. Her dark hair fell over her face and her heavily lined eyes looked tired from one too many all-nighters.

Oliver wouldn’t even recognize her, she barely recognized herself now. She was so different from the girl who had wandered into that diner two years ago.

But who was she, really?

The cynical girl who was looking back at her, or the one who had stood under a waterfall in the moonlight without a care in the world.

She slid off of her bed and walked over to her dresser. Pulling out a stack of shirts, she found an envelope that she had deposited there. Inside it was a strip of four pictures that she hadn’t looked at in a while, but couldn’t bring herself to throw away either. The girl in those pictures was happy… but she was happy now too, right?

She was at her dream school, she had made it out of Vegas, she was involved in hacktivism that was making a difference (or at least that’s what she told herself), and she had a boyfriend who she could see herself having a good future with.  

But it had only taken a chocolate cake to make her question things because it brought up a “what if?” she had buried a long time ago…

What if she had taken a chance on things with Oliver? What if she had made a mistake in letting go of him before she really knew what a relationship with him could have been like, even if it was long distance? What if things hadn’t been too perfect to be real, they just were perfect for each other?

She looked at her reflection in the mirror again and then back at the pictures in her hand.

What if it wasn’t too late to go back?

* * *

 

“And… you are blonde,” Felicity whispered to her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

She had been aiming to return to something close to her natural color but she had gotten distracted by looking at flights to the west coast and way over processed. She figured that she should be grateful that it least it hadn’t ended up orange or green or some other disastrous result.

Running her fingers through her hair she decided that she actually kind of liked it.

With her make-up removed and her glasses on that she hadn’t worn in ages, she looked younger, softer. Much more like the girl who had taken her first steps onto the campus.

Next came the step in reclaiming herself that would be far more difficult than bleaching her hair.

She walked down the hall to a room that she had entered a million times and tentatively pushed open the door.

“Hey… babe?” Cooper’s voice filled with confusion as he took in her appearance. “What happened to you?”

She swallowed her nerves and answered confidently, “This is who I am.”

Some of the confusion faded and he smiled at her, “Okay… well you look pretty, it’s just… different.”

She could feel some of her resolve crumbling the longer she stood in the doorway. Cooper was safe, dependable. He lived right down the hall from her, she knew he loved her, there wasn’t much risk in staying with him. She felt like her heart was being pulled in two different directions and she knew she had to make a choice. If she was going to take a chance on her “what if?” she had to end things with Cooper.

“I decided to take the internship at Queen Consolidated,” she remarked faintly.

“But what about our summer plans?” he asked. “And do you really want to go work at a company like that, be some sort of corporate lapdog? That’s not you Felicity. Well maybe it’s this new you, but it’s not the you I thought you were.”

His sudden coldness took her aback for a second but it made her even more certain of her decision.

“First of all, the internship is with the Applied Sciences division, it’s not like I’m trading a summer of attempting to hack government agencies to become a receptionist.”

Cooper shook his head, “I thought you wanted to do something actually important.”

“This internship is important. To me! Why are you acting like this?” She frowned and muttered, “This isn’t how I wanted this to go.”

He stood up and walked over to take her hands in his, “Felicity, I can’t do the DOE hack without you.”

She pulled her hands away, “Then don’t. Look, Coop, sooner or later something is going to go wrong and one of us is going to end up in jail. I just can’t do this anymore.”

“This’ as in the hacking or,” he waved his hand between them, “’this’ as in us. Because I’m getting the sense that you didn’t come in here just to inform me of your summer plans and show off your new hair.”

Felicity took a breath before responding, “Cooper, I’m sorry. You’ve been so good to me, but being with you… you’re just so angry at the world. It started to rub off on me and all I could see was the bad stuff, the bad people. I started to forget that there are also the kind of people who would offer to drive a stranger half way across the country just because they wanted to help.” She pressed her fingertips to her temples, “And then they go and name a freaking restaurant after you even though you never answered any of their calls!”

“Okay… I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about but it’s clear that we’re done here. Have fun crawling under some executive’s desk all summer.”

Oh he did not just---

_Smack._

Cooper flinched and placed his hand over the spot on his cheek that she had just hit. “What the hell?”

“ _Really?_ I wouldn’t have thought that you knew me better by now.” She shook her head in disbelief, “I can’t believe that I thought I was in love with you.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” he replied flatly.

She backed out of his room before the tears began to spring to her eyes. This wasn’t how she wanted things to end but it made her more certain that things weren’t meant to be with her and Cooper.

Whether they were with her and Oliver… she supposed she’d have to just wait and see.

**2 WEEKS LATER**

Felicity was zipping up her suitcase when there was a soft knock on the door. When she opened it, a very nervous looking Cooper was standing in the hallway.

“Oh. Good. I was hoping you hadn’t left already.”

“I leave for the airport in 25 minutes,” she replied coolly.

“That’s enough time for me to apologize.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, “Oh.”

“You finally realized that you’re too good for me and I just couldn’t handle that and I said things that I shouldn’t have said. I’m really sorry and umm,” he shoved his hands into his pockets. “I hope you have a good summer.”

“Thank you.” She grabbed something off of her desk and handed it to him, “The algorithm. You can do the hack without me just… be careful.”

He took the drive from her and slipped it into his pocket, “Just promise me you won’t let them make you fetch coffee and stuff, okay? You’re too smart for that.”

“No coffee,” she promised with a laugh.

It was the last time she would see him outside of a prison, but she didn’t know that then.

What she did know is that she had a flight to catch. A _direct_ flight, worth every precious penny that she earned being a TA for one of her professors, to actually arrive at her destination without any unexpected detours.

**Starling City**

Felicity smoothed her hands over the fabric of her dress nervously before sliding out of the car. She glanced up at the sign that bore her name before entering the busy restaurant. Pride filled her chest as she saw what had resulted from the long discussions in Oliver’s truck. There was also a pang of regret that she hadn’t gotten to see how it got to this point.

Walking up to the hostess she requested a table for one.

“Do you have a reservation?”

“Umm…”

She definitely should have seen this coming.

She had tried to make a reservation when she had first got accepted for the internship so she could surprise Oliver, but by then there was already nothing sooner than weeks after she arrived in Starling. She had decided to just hope that the universe was on her side and she could somehow get a table.

Apparently not.

“Then the wait time will be,” the hostess checked her tablet. “Three months.”

There was one more thing she could try.

Felicity smiled warmly, “You don’t understand, I’m _Felicity_.”

She huffed in amusement, “Yeah, and so is every woman who would like to get inside Oliver Queen’s pants.” Her eyes widened, “Sorry. That was unprofessional. Please don’t ask to speak to a manager.”

That she was not expecting. But it was kind of entertaining to discover that women were attempting to increase their chances with Oliver by “sharing a name” with his mystery girl.

_What if it had worked?_

She had been so caught up in thinking about seeing Oliver again that she hadn’t paused to consider that maybe he wasn’t exactly single anymore. It had been two years after all, and she had been the one to push him away so he could find someone in Starling. Just because he had been thinking about her one day didn’t mean he spent every night pining for her. Suddenly she felt uncertain that her impulsive decision had been the right one. What had she given up for a guy she had only known for a week, two years ago?

She waved her hand, “You know what, it’s fine. I’m going to be in town for a while so I’ll just come back…”

On her way out she overheard a conversation that caused her pause.

“He said he’s going to be staying late after closing to work on some new recipes so we should just go out without him,” a woman announced as she walked over to a man leaning against the wall.

“I know he loves cooking and everything but we have got to get him out of that kitchen eventually. He spent way too much time hanging out with old ladies in Oklahoma, I think he’s forgotten how to have fun.”

“Or… maybe he just doesn’t like to always be the third wheel to his best friend and ex-girlfriend.”

“Well if he would come out every once in awhile he might actually meet someone…”

The conversation faded away as the couple left the restaurant and Felicity formulated a new plan for the evening.

A few hours later Felicity watched from a store across the street as the final group of waitresses finished their conversation out front of the restaurant before getting into cars to leave. Slipping into the alley behind the restaurant, she examined the electronic locking mechanism on the back door.

“It’s like he wants someone to break in,” she muttered as she easily disabled the system.

Inside the restaurant it was dark except for the emergency lights and a faint glow coming out from underneath one of the doors. Walking over to it, she pushed it open tentatively and instantly felt the warmth of the kitchen wrap around her. Despite it being a bit more polished and new looking, she was reminded of the night she had first stepped into the kitchen in Oklahoma with no idea of everything that was going to unfold.

Oliver was standing over a stove lost in focus and she took a second to watch him. His chef’s jacket was off for the night and he was just wearing a plain black t-shirt that stretched over his broad, strong back. She had almost forgotten how handsome he was, how those muscles felt underneath her fingers.

Taking a step forward, the click of her shoes alerted him to her present and he turned quickly.

“How did you get--- oh.”

“Hi,” she lifted her hand in a feeble wave, butterflies filling her stomach as those blue eyes of his met hers. He didn’t respond and she began to ramble to fill the space between them, “Yeah, I kind of broke in. Sorry about that. To be fair though I did try to order dinner but turns out this place is pretty popular. Not that I’m surprised or anything, I mean I told you that you would be great at this and---”

He took two strides over to her and cupped her face in his hands, and she fell quiet as his eyes searched hers intently.

“You never answered my calls. I was beginning to think that I had only dreamed about you.”

She swallowed and tried to dip her head but his hands were still in place. “I’m sorry,” she replied sincerely.

“It’s okay,” he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “You’re here now and that’s even better than a phone call.”

“Yeah, well, I was promised chocolate cake so…”

He shook his head in amusement and dipped his head to kiss her. It was like the past two years hadn’t even happened as she rolled up on her toes and he deepened the kiss, moving his hands away from her face to wrap around her lower back and draw her close.

They pulled apart to catch their breath and pressed their foreheads together, smiles on their faces.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

“I didn’t even realize how much I did,” she admitted, running her hands up and down his arms. “When I got your note it was just like… it all came back to me and I knew I had to see you.”

“How long are you going to be here?” he asked.  

“All summer.”

He grinned, “Really?”

“Yeah, I’m actually going to be working at your family’s company.”

“Oh, so you didn’t come here looking for a job in the kitchen?” he teased.

“Mmm no. I would like this restaurant to continue to be successful for you.”

“But you look so cute in an apron.”

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

He kissed her forehead, “QC will be lucky to have you.”

A timer beeped and Oliver glanced over at the oven.

She clasped her hands together, “So umm, I didn’t mean to distract you from your work so if you have stuff to do tonight I understand. I can go…”

He walked over to pull a baking sheet out of the oven, “I think you’ll find that I could be pretty easily convinced to go home early tonight.”

“Oh yeah?” She walked up behind him as he transferred what looked like small pies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek in between his shoulder blades.

“Mhmm. But first we do need to try these.”

“Ooh okay. I did eat some Big Belly Burger after I found out there was zero chance of getting a table here, but I will gladly eat a second dinner.”

“You should have just told them who you were, there’s usually an extra table or two that’s not technically reserved but on hold for people who are willing to tip the hostess a little extra or who know the right people. Laurel and Tommy have never made a reservation.”

She smiled sheepishly, “I did try that, but apparently you get quite a few ‘Felicity’s’ around here.”

He laughed, “I never realized how popular of a name it was here in Starling. It’s so strange that I had never met a Felicity before.”

She pressed her palm to her forehead, “I can’t believe you named the restaurant after me.”

“Who said it was named after you? I just liked that Felicity meant happiness,” he replied with a wink.  

He pulled up some barstools to the counter and they dug into the chicken pot-pies he had made while they caught up on the past two years.

“So, I guess starting right after I left you in Massachusetts, I went back to Oklahoma for about a month. I didn’t want to just up and leave like I had done with Starling, I felt like I owed it to  the people who had become my friends there to create some closure. I trained my replacement at the diner and convinced Tyler to take my place as a Jeopardy watching buddy.”

Felicity smiled remembering the little boy who had dubbed her and Oliver, “regular friends.”

“And then once I moved back to Starling, I took some time to get settled and reconnect with my family and friends before I got to work on the restaurant. I could’ve delegated it off to other people and then just put my name and menu on it, but I wanted it to really be mine so it took me some time to figure everything out for myself and not just rely on my name and my parent’s money and connections.”

She lifted her fork, “And now here you are.”  

He nodded, “And now here I am. We’ve been open for about three months now and we’ve filled up the tables for another three months. You were right about being able to get people in the door just because they were intrigued by the fact that Oliver Queen had disappeared for a few years and then suddenly came back and opened a restaurant.”

“And then you fed them something as delicious as this, so of course they had to come back. What do your parents think?”

He smiled shyly, “They’re really proud. Dad loves to bring potential investors here, so in a way I feel like I am a part of the family business.”   

She reached over and squeezed his hand, “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thank you. So how have things been with you?” he asked.

“Oh… They’ve been okay.” His eyes filled with concern and she quickly added, “I mean, I love MIT. My professors love me and I’ve gotten to work on a lot of cool projects. Working towards a double master on an accelerated track means that sometimes I exist on coffee, Red Bull, and Twizzlers, but I’ve always loved a good challenge. I’ve just had some things happen in my personal life, with my mom, my boyfriend---“

He slid his hand out from underneath hers and she took it back as she clarified, “ _Ex-boyfriend._ I guess I just sort of lost myself for a little bit and I hadn’t even realized it until a few days ago.”

“I understand how that feels, I highly recommend Oklahoma for finding yourself,” he added jokingly.

“I’m hoping that Starling City is my Oklahoma. I got this pretty cool internship opportunity lined up, plus there’s this guy who lives here that I really regret letting go.”

“Felicity…”

“Is it too late to give things a try?” she asked. “Just figure things out along the way? I don’t want to always wonder what we could’ve had if we hadn’t said goodbye...”

He slid off of his barstool, “Let’s not say goodbye this time.”

She hopped off of her stool as well and wrapped her arms around his waist, “I mean, I do have to go back to Massachusetts at the end of the summer, so technically there will be goodbyes, but if at that point we still want to make things work long distance---”

He shrugged, “My family has a private jet.”

A grin spread across her face, “Okay mister fancy pants.”

“Hey, I’m still driving my same truck.”

She closed her eyes, “Mmm… remember when you pulled over and we made out in there?”

He nodded, “Vividly.”

“You want to do that again?”

“Absolutely.”

He untangled himself from her so that he could quickly clean things up in the kitchen and then they walked out into the back alley hand in hand towards where Oliver was parked. They didn’t even make it inside the truck before Oliver had her pressed up against the side, her legs coming up to wrap around his waist as they kissed. His hands smoothed over the bare skin of her thighs that were exposed when her dress rode up and warmth spread through her whole body. Suddenly, he pulled back and with the glow of a street light reflecting off of his face, she could see a confused wrinkle in between his eyebrows.

“What?” she asked, a little dazed.

“Were you always a blonde?”

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you that you could hold off on the pitchforks ;) I would love to know what you thought of the ending!


	9. Extended Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a part of my Olicity Fanfiction Countdown to Christmas over on tumblr :) Enjoy!

Felicity buttoned up her coat and tightened her scarf to prepare for her walk across the snowy campus. On her way, her phone started to buzz in her pocket and she slipped it out to answer it.

“Hey Oliver,” she greeted him, a smile on her face as she heard the distinct sounds of his busy kitchen behind him and knew he was at the restaurant that bore her namesake.

“Hi Felicity. How are finals going?” he asked.

“Just stepped out of my last one actually.” She swerved a patch of ice on the sidewalk. “I feel pretty confident that they all went well. So now I just have to pack and I’ll be ready to get picked up tomorrow morning.”

“Perfect. I can’t wait to see you.”

“I’m excited too. And you’re sure that it’s okay with your family for the jet to pick me up?”

“Yeah. Thea’s been over on the East Coast visiting some friends this past week, so it’s just going to make a quick stop in Massachusetts and bring the two of you to Starling.”

She sighed gratefully, “Thank you.”

“Of course. With your luck, if you flew commercial you’d probably get stranded somewhere and have a romantic adventure with a ruggedly handsome, small-town guy. And we can’t have that,” he teased, eliciting a laugh from her.

“Oh, I think those are one in a million instances. But I will appreciate not having to deal with the craziness of commercial airports during the holiday travel season.  

Oliver didn’t reply right away and she heard muffled voices coming from the other end of the phone before he spoke up again, “Hey I’m sorry, I have to go deal with a minor, baking-related crisis.”

She laughed, “It’s okay. See you tomorrow night.”

Hanging up, she continued her trek to her dorm room to pack her suitcase for her winter break. She was going to be spending the first week in Starling with Oliver before heading to Vegas to stay at home with her mom for the rest. Although, after having spent the summer in Starling, it definitely felt more like home than Vegas ever did. While she was doing her internship at QC, her and Oliver had had the chance to actually give a relationship a try and when the time came for her to return to Massachusetts in the fall, they decided that long distance would be worth it. Especially considering she only had a year left before graduating ahead of schedule. She didn’t have any concrete plans for after graduation though. QC had made an advance offer at the conclusion of her internship, and there were a few companies in Massachusetts that had their sights on her, but every time Oliver talked about his restaurant, she thought about how much she would love to have something of her very own like he did.

Back in her dormitory building, she walked past a door that she used to open all the time. There was a new occupant in the room now, the former currently residing in a prison cell. It was sobering to think how easily she could have been in a similar position if she hadn’t ended things with Cooper, hadn’t handed him her algorithm and taken off to Starling. All because Oliver hadn’t forgotten about her. All because he sent her that package of her favorite chocolate cake and she realized she didn’t want to keep trying to forget about him, how much she regretted letting him go after the whirlwind that their week on the road had been.

Swallowing, she continued on down the hall to her room and unlocked the door. The semester had flown by, her studies keeping her very busy, but she had a feeling these next few hours until she would head for the private airport might drag on forever with nothing to occupy her except for her impatience to see Oliver. They facetimed multiple times a week and texted a lot but it wasn’t the same as getting to be with him in person. She picked up the picture frame that was sitting on her desk and smiled at the picture that had been taken over the summer of him holding her bridal style in front of the restaurant. Setting it back down, she turned to her closet and started pulling things out to deposit into her suitcase.

* * *

 

Thea waved at her when she stepped into the small private airport the next morning, “Felicity!”

Over the summer, she had gotten the chance to meet Oliver’s younger sister and quickly understood why he adored her. Despite Thea only being 15, she was quite mature and they had had fun hanging out together when she was done at QC for the day but Oliver still had a few hours at the restaurant. She had been her official tour guide to all the best places in Starling and her co-official taste-tester for Oliver when he was developing new recipes.

She walked over to her and gave her a hug, “Hi Thea.”

“It’s so good to see you. You all ready to go?”

She nodded and they made their way out to the tarmac to board the Queen Consolidated jet.

“Wow,” she whispered as she settled into one of the big, comfortable seats. “This is nice.”

Thea grinned and patted the armrests, “Once you fly like this you’re never going to want to fly commercial again.”

“After I got stranded in Oklahoma I never wanted to fly commercial again,” Felicity clarified. “But I’ve still had to take my chances a few times.”

“I still can’t believe how that all happened with you and Oliver. It’s kind of like the plot of that movie we watched over the summer, Leap Year, except more… American, and Oliver didn’t propose when you showed back up in his life like Declan did. Which honestly is better, I still think that, while it made for a romantic ending, it was sort of sudden.” A mischievous smile turned up the corners of her mouth and she tilted her head towards Felicity’s left hand, “Although, if my brother wants to put a ring on it eventually, I wouldn’t object.”

She bit her lip and shook her head. It’s not that it hadn’t crossed her mind once or twice when she was thinking about her life after college, but it was still far too soon to let them be anything but fleeting thoughts.

Their flight passed quickly and blissfully uneventfully, Thea chatted about her East Coast trip and they both took naps in the reclining chairs before waking up in Starling City.

When they landed, she checked the time and knew that Oliver was still at the restaurant, so she parted ways with Thea and grabbed an Uber to take her there after making sure that her luggage would be taken to Oliver’s loft where she would be staying for the week.

Inside the lobby of the restaurant, she was immediately recognized by the hostess, unlike her first visit to the place, and was ushered over to a table near the kitchen. The waitress however wasn’t one that she knew, so she had a feeling it hadn’t been relayed to Oliver that she was there. At the end of her meal, she made a request that she pay her compliments to the head chef in person.

“Uhh… he’s very busy…” the waitress stated with a frown.

“Oh but this chocolate cake is the absolute best I have ever tasted and I would be remiss not to tell him myself. Just a Yelp review wouldn’t truly do it justice.”

“I uhh…”

She tilted her head, “Please?”

“I will see if he has a moment to spare…”

She smiled in satisfaction and handed over her empty plate. A few minutes later she saw her exit the kitchen with Oliver on her heels and she was just close enough to pick up on what they were saying.

“Andrea what did I tell you? Unless they’re a journalist or a blogger, you can just send out one of the sous chefs to receive compliments.”

“I know Mr. Queen but she was very insistent on speaking with you and I—“

Felicity met his eyes from her seat and winked.

“My apologies Andrea. Thank you for coming to get me.”

He left the befuddled looking waitress behind and strode over to her table.

“Why didn’t you just send a message to the kitchen that you were here?”

“Oh you know me, I love a good surprise entrance,” she joked as she stood up to hug him. “Mmm it’s so good to see you.”

He gave her a chaste kiss before whispering, “If we weren’t in public I would give you a proper greeting after not seeing you for three months.”

She patted his chest, “Something to look forward to for later. You better get back to the kitchen. Should I head over to the loft or…”

He checked his watch, “I have a few more hours here still so yeah, you can go get yourself settled in. Make yourself at home.”

“Okay.” She kissed his cheek, “Amazing dinner by the way. All my compliments to the chef.”

He grinned and left her reluctantly to head back to the kitchen and she gathered up her coat and purse to catch a ride over to the loft.

* * *

 

When she entered the loft, she felt very tired, the change of time zones having caught up to her even with her nap on the plane. The big, comfortable bed that she knew awaited her in Oliver’s bedroom was very tempting, but she was determined to stay awake until he got home for the restaurant. Instead, she slipped out of her shoes and hung her coat up on one of the hooks by the door before grabbing her pajamas from her suitcase that had been left for her to go change in the bathroom. On her way, she paused at the sofa table, where he had set some new picture frames since she had been there last, to look at the photographs. There was one of him with her and Thea at the Starling Rockets baseball game they had gone to over the summer. Another of her giving him a kiss on the cheek, wearing a waitress uniform at the restaurant on a night she had helped out when they were short staffed. A third was of them at the beach on one of the rare days he had been able to take a day off from the kitchen. And the last was the same one she had on her desk at school, with their photo strip from the carnival all those years ago tucked into the corner of the frame.

She smiled thinking how far they had come from that day, when they were dancing around the feelings that were developing between them, unsure that anything was ever meant to truly happen between them beyond their road trip. And now she had had time to fall in love with him, to imagine a future with him when she let her thoughts wander there before she caught herself.

After she was in her pajamas, she sat down onto the couch and turned on the tv to look for a movie to keep her occupied while she waited for Oliver. He still only had two movies on his account though: Die Hard and Julie & Julia, both of which he had made her watch more times over the summer than she would have ever cared to. She abandoned her movie idea and went to grab her Kindle to continue with the novel she had begun on the plane. 

The next thing she was aware of was being scooped up into someone’s arms. Blinking her eyes open sleepily, she was met with Oliver looking down at her in amusement.

“Hey Sleeping Beauty.”

“Hi,” she croaked out groggily before clearing her throat and trying again. “Hey.”

“Did you fall asleep as soon as you got back here?” he asked as he carried her towards his bedroom.

“Mmm… I tried really hard to stay awake for you, but clearly I wasn’t too successful. I was going to watch a movie but you really need to expand your collection.”

He shook his head, “What are you talking about? Die Hard and Julie & Julia are the only two you need.”

As he settled her down onto his bed, she rolled her eyes, “You’re ridiculous. My roommate was watching a movie while procrastinating during finals week that I think you would like. It’s called The Hundred-Foot Journey and--- wait what are you doing?”

He paused from pulling the covers up over her, “Umm, getting you comfortable to sleep?”

She scrambled up to kneel on the mattress and raised an eyebrow at him, “I think that earlier I was promised a proper greeting sir…”

“I didn’t want to—You seemed pretty tired…”

Reaching towards him, she started to slowly unbutton his chef’s jacket, “I guess it’s a good thing I took a nap then.”

He kept his hands to himself as let her finish with the buttons before shedding it and the t-shirt he wore underneath. After that, all pretense of self-control flew out the window as his hands came to grip her hips and his mouth met hers in a kiss that was filled with the desperation that came from three months apart. His tongue traced the seam of her lips and a soft moan escaped her as she let him deepen the kiss. He wrapped his hands around her to ease her back down onto the mattress and came to hover over top of her, his mouth dropping to her neck and leaving a trail of kisses down to her collarbone.

“I missed you,” he murmured into her skin.

“Same,” she sighed, tangling her fingers in his hair. “I wish—“ He slid his hands up underneath her shirt to skim his fingers over her ribcage and trace the seams of her bra. “I wish I could be here for longer. But I promised my mom I’d be in Vegas for Hanukkah.”

“It’s okay, we’ll just have to make the most of our time,” he replied in a tone of voice that was filled with unspoken promises of exactly how they would do so, and she felt warmth spread through her whole body as it tingled with need.

Hastily, she sat up a bit to make it easier for him to tug her shirt up over her head and unclip her bra. Tossing both articles of clothing to the floor, he returned his attention to the newly exposed skin. She fisted her hands in the sheets as he took his time teasing her breasts with his fingers and mouth before dipping his head lower to drag his lips down her stomach before reaching fabric. Hooking his fingers into the waistband of her pajamas and underwear, he removed them simultaneously and they joined the rest of her clothes on the floor.

“A proper greeting,” he whispered, his eyes dark and hazy when he looked up at her and she swallowed in anticipation.

* * *

 

The next morning she woke up to the smell of something delicious filling the air and it made up for the fact that she was alone in bed. She was about to start searching for some clothes to put on to join Oliver in the kitchen when he appeared in the doorway with a tray of food.

“Good morning,” he greeted her, setting the tray at the foot of the bed and coming over to her side to give her a kiss.

“Good morning,” she echoed. “Breakfast smells good.”

“I figured you would be starving after last night,” he teased.

“Mmm I don’t know, I think I was pretty satisfied,” she replied with a wink and he tossed a t-shirt at her.

She slipped it on and sat up against the headboard to accept the tray of french toast, bacon, eggs, and coffee he had brought in.

“Wow. This tastes so good after eating dining hall food or microwave oatmeal for breakfast for months,” she commented around forkfuls.

He climbed onto the bed to sit next to her, “Just one more semester and then you can have my cooking all the time. I mean, I don’t want to assume that you’re going to move to Starling just because of me. I know you weren’t sure yet what you were going to do after graduation…”

She tilted her head, “You know how I told you, back when we were on our road trip, that Vegas never truly felt like home to me? And that I hoped Massachusetts would?”

“Mhmm…”

“Well, as much as I love MIT, Massachusetts never quite got to the point for me where it felt like home either. But last summer, being in Starling, I got this sense that it was where I was supposed to be. I think a part of that is because of you and Thea, but there’s also just something about this city. Yesterday, when I got off the plane, I felt like I wasn’t just visiting you but that I had made it back home.”

“So…”

“So I think after I graduate, I’m going to move to Starling. Not just because I obviously want to be where you are, because long distance sucks and I want to be able to kiss you goodnight and sing along to the Hamilton soundtrack in the kitchen and watch Die Hard and Julie&Julia with you for the millionth time and have breakfast in bed, but also because I just feel like I belong here. And I think it’s the perfect place for…” She bit her lip. She hadn’t talked to anyone yet about her dream but she really wanted to confide in Oliver. “And I’m thinking of starting my own software company and I think this is a great city for a tech startup. I see how invested you are in your restaurant, something that’s yours, and I really want that for myself.”

He reached for her hand and tangled his fingers with hers, “I really want that for you too. And you totally secretly love my movies and you know it.”

Shaking her head in amusement, she relocated her breakfast tray to the bedside table to crawl into his lap. “Maybe I do.” She kissed him, “Or maybe I just love you.”

“Both, I think it’s both,” he teased. “I love you too. Also, I took the day off and left the kitchen to my sous chefs so we can spend more time together.”

“Ooh and do you have any plans for our day?”

“I planned out our whole day.” He replied seriously, “First we’ll make snow angels for a two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle.”

It took her a second, her brow furrowing in confusion, before she burst out laughing, “Okay so you have actually seen more than two movies.”

He tapped the tip of her nose gently, “Everyone has seen Elf, Felicity.”

It turned out that Oliver wasn’t entirely joking with his Buddy The Elf impression though as she listened to him lay out his plans for the day.

“So I was thinking that since it’s not too cold today we could go ice skating at the outdoor rink that they have set up in the square downtown.”

“Mhmm,” she hummed in agreement. “Can you hand me my shampoo?

He grabbed the bottle from the ledge that she had left there over the summer and handed it to her before continuing, “And then I really wanted to try making gingerbread houses. The other day I was watching this episode of Food Network Challenge where—”

She cut him off as she started to wash her hair, “Oliver you already told me about this on the phone, please don’t tell me we’re going to build a life sized gingerbread house.” 

“No, just little ones,” he grumbled. “But that would be cool.”

She laughed, “Oliver what would we do with a gingerbread house that big?”

“Crawl inside it?”

Grabbing one of the detachable showerheads, she sprayed him with it, “You’re crazy.”

He pouted, “You love me.”

“Yeah those two facts are not mutually exclusive.”

He grinned and took the showerhead from her so that he could pull her into him for a kiss.

“Mmm you better not start anything,” she mumbled against his lips. “Or we might never get to the rest of your plans for the day.”

“I wouldn’t complain too much,” he replied, even as he took a little step back.

“So what’s after gingerbread house making?” she asked.

“Then I’ll make you dinner and after that we can cuddle and watch that movie you were starting to tell me about last night before we got distracted.”

“Sounds like a pretty good day,” she remarked. “And you’re going to like The Hundred-Foot Journey. Not sure it will top Julie&Julia, because you have a weird love for that movie, but this one is about chefs too.”

They finished up in the shower and then got dressed in warm clothes to go ice skating. It was only a short walk from Oliver’s loft to the downtown square and all the shop windows were decorated prettily for the holidays. His fingers tangled with hers as they made their way down the sidewalk and she enjoyed just being able to walk hand in hand with him after their time apart. It was the little things that she seemed to miss the most with their relationship having been long distance for the past few months. They talked all the time, and so they didn’t have to play catch-up with their conversations, but she liked getting to see his smile not through a computer screen, run her fingers through his hair, hold his hand, wrap her arms around his waist and rest her chin on his chest to look up at him while he was talking to her. Little things.

They made it to the rink and rented skates before heading out onto the ice and joining in the swarm of people making loops around the perimeter.

It wasn’t long before she noticed the photographers. Over the summer she had gotten used to them always seeming to be a few steps behind them.

“Didn’t take them long to figure out you were back in town,” Oliver commented when he noticed them too. “Does it bother you?”

 At first, she was a little uneasy at the intrusion. She remembered Oliver telling her how that was one of the things that would make leaving Oklahoma hard, giving up his life of obscurity and privacy. When the first articles started to surface though and she realized they were a far cry from the scandalous smear pieces about him that used to be in the gossip magazines her mom read, and instead were good PR for his restaurant, she relaxed a bit. The city of Starling seemed to believe in the changed man he had come back as and, before she had even shown up, they were enamored with the “mystery girl” that his restaurant was named for. A few harmless pictures of them skating would remind people to book their holiday dinners at the restaurant and she was okay with that.

Besides, she gotten some pretty cute candids of the two of them thanks to their shadows with cameras.

“Does it bother _you?_ ”              

“They’re not as bad as I remember, although I don’t exactly give them as much of a reason to be anymore anyway. As long as they don’t start staking out our home, or making up rumors that you’re pregnant with my triplets, it’s whatever. I knew I was going to have to deal with the attention when I decided to move back.”

“Our home,” she echoed.

“Unless you want to get your own place,” he back-tracked hastily. “I just thought…”

“No, no of course I want to move into the loft. I just hadn’t really thought about it as our home yet until you said that.”

That thought definitely made the last semester they would have to spend apart seem easier.

“It wasn’t the triplets that you got hung up on?” he teased.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head, “You don’t really think they would make up a story like that, do you?”

He shrugged, “Wouldn’t be the wildest thing they’ve said about one of my girlfriends. But don’t worry, I think they’ve gotten soft on me since they started eating my baked goods.”

Laughing, she tugged on his hand to pull him faster around the ice. After a while her nose and toes started to get cold and she was ready to head home to warm up.

And make gingerbread houses apparently.

She sat at one of the barstools and watched as he pulled out the pieces of gingerbread he had baked before he went into work the day before, as well as a wide assortment of candies for decorating.

“I’ve never done this before,” she commented while he whipped up the icing.

“It’s been a long time for me. Thea and I used to help Raisa build one that my parents would display at their annual Christmas party. And by help, I mean we ate the candy,” he added as she was dipping her hand into a bowl of m&ms and she gave him a sheepish grin.

He filled her a piping bag of icing and she set to work, biting her lip as she concentrated on assembling the walls and roof of her little house.

“Now just imagine how fun this would be if the pieces were like 10x bigger,” Oliver remarked, obviously still a little hung up on the episode of Food Network Challenge.

“That just sounds frustrating,” she countered. “And super time consuming.” She nudged him with her hip, “I can think of a lot more fun things to be doing all night long.”

“Fair point.” He kissed her cheek. “This is why you’re the genius in this relationship. But theoretically… a giant gingerbread house…”

She rolled her eyes in amusement and started to pick out what candies she wanted to use. 

An hour later, she put the finishing touch on the decorations and took a step back to look at her house proudly. “Not bad for my first gingerbread house ever, wouldn’t you say?”

“It looks perfect,” Oliver commended her.

“Yours turned out great too. I like the way you did your roof.”

They moved their houses onto some cake stands that Oliver had pulled out to display them on the counter and cleaned up the counter so that they could eat the lasagna Oliver had popped into the oven while they were decorating.

Once they had finished eating dinner, she started to help him with the dishes when he stopped her.   

“I’ll finish up out here,” Oliver offered. “Why don’t you go get comfortable to watch our movie.”

“Can I borrow one of your henleys?” she asked, knowing full well he wasn’t going to refuse her wearing his clothes. She had “accidently” ended up with some of his clothes in her suitcase when she left for school at the end of the summer, and he had pretended not to notice that she was often cozied up in one of his sweatshirts during their Skype dates.

“Same drawer as always,” he replied and she headed for the bedroom.

She was digging around in the drawer for her favorite soft, navy blue one when her hand hit the box. Eyes wide, she pulled it out and, despite the little voice in her head that was telling her to just put it back, she cracked it open and snuck a peek at the, _very obviously an engagement ring,_ ring inside.

_“Although, if my brother wants to put a ring on it eventually, I wouldn’t object.”_

Had Thea known something?

“Felicity?”

She tried to shut the box and put it back into the drawer without him noticing what she was preoccupied by, but he must have realized what she had found.

“I forgot that I had put that in there. Isn’t it pretty?” he commented, walking over to her.

_That’s kind of an odd comment to make._

“Uh huh.”

“Tommy is proposing to Laurel on Christmas and he asked me to keep the ring in the meantime so she wouldn’t accidentally find it.”

“Oh. That makes way more sense,” she muttered, unsure if she was relieved, disappointed, or a mixture of the both. Snapping the box shut, she nestled it back into the drawer before pulling out the shirt she had been looking for.

“Wait, you didn’t think…”

She laughed nervously and avoided looking at him, “What? No—I—No.”

He joined in her nervous laughter, “I mean, it’s too soon right?”

“Yeah, of course….” She met his eyes, “But you’ve thought about it?”

He smiled shyly, “Yeah. I mean, I like to think that your flight getting cancelled in Oklahoma wasn’t just an accident, but the way that two people who were meant to be, but might have never met otherwise, got their chance. A story like that deserves a happy ending, and for two years after I left you in Massachusetts, I didn’t think there would be one. But I can picture it now.”

She could too. She had thought that the home she had grown up in would make her afraid of marriage, of promising a forever to someone who could decide to one day just leave, but it didn’t seem so scary with Oliver. It was definitely too soon, but after she had graduated and they had more time together without an entire country in between them to strengthen their relationship, she would be pretty excited to eventually get a diamond ring for Hanukkah.  

“You’re really sappy, you know that right?”

His smile grew into a grin and he pulled her in for a kiss.

They got a little distracted making out, but eventually they made it back into the living room to finish off his checklist for the day by watching their movie.

Half an hour in, his hand was on her thigh and she snuck a glance over at him. He was seemingly completely absorbed by what was on the screen but his thumb started stroking her skin. Turning her attention back to the movie, she tried to pay attention to the story and not the slow torture that he was intent on causing.

She swallowed when his hand moved up a little higher a few minutes later and slipped underneath the bottom hem of his henley she was wearing. A part of her wanted to swat his hand away until the movie was over but the side of her that wanted him to continue his teasing won out.

“This is a really good movie,” he remarked nonchalantly as if he wasn’t making it completely impossible for her to pay any attention to what was going on.

“Mhmm,” she mumbled in an attempt at agreement, attempting not to squirm as his hand inched up further.  

Finally, he made the discovery that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath the henley and his hand stilled, the faintest of groans escaping him.

Biting her lip in satisfaction that she had turned the tables ever so slightly on him, she looked over at him and commented on the scene that was playing, “I know, that’s so disappointing that they had to go through that.”  

He blinked at her, his hand still frozen in place between her legs, “Tragic.”

She wrapped her fingers around his wrist, “We’re probably at a good spot to pause. The movie.”

“Yeah. Just a quick intermission.”

She snorted, “Quick is right, you’ve had me ready for the past 45 minutes. I’m dying here.”

“Sorry,” he replied in a tone that was definitely not apologetic as she released his wrist so he could pause the movie before finally touching her where she needed him.

* * *

 

After their “intermission,” she rested her head on his lap, a blanket draped over her to finish watching the movie. His fingers combed through her hair and she sighed in contentment, trying not to think about the fact that in a few days she was going to have to leave him for another couple of months.  

When the credits rolled on the movie, he deemed it worthy to be among the rankings of Die Hard and Julie&Julia.

He switched off the tv, “Good pick babe.”

Sitting up to look at him, she smiled, “I really liked it too.”

“So…” He took her hands in his, “I was going to send you home with your presents so you could open them during Hanukkah, but I’m kind of impatient and I want to give them all to you now.”

“You won’t get any protest from me. But you didn’t have to get me anything, just getting to spend time with you is a gift.”

“Now who’s being sappy?” he teased. “Although I agree, today has been a really good day. I did find some things that I think you’ll like though.”  

“Well, let me go get your presents then and we can open them together.”

She hopped up from the couch to retrieve the wrapped package in her suitcase before returning to him.

“You first,” she insisted, handing him the gift.

He tore away the paper and opened the box to pull out the different things she had inside. A “kiss the cook” apron, an original edition boxset that she had found on Ebay of Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” cookbooks, and a picture frame containing a nice paparazzi shot of them walking down the street holding hands and looking at each other like they were in their own little world that she had printed out in black and white.

He looked up and smiled at her, “Thank you. I love this picture. I remember when it first surfaced, my mom called me up and just said, _‘you found the one, didn’t you?’_ ”

She blushed and returned his smile.

“Okay now you,” he said, handing her a huge box.

She opened it excitedly and reached in for the first present. Unwrapping it revealed a copy of “Cooking for Dummies,” and she glared at him, hitting him with the book teasingly. 

“To be fair, I bought that for you before you confirmed that you wanted to live with me and I wanted to make sure you were properly fed. But now you don’t have to worry about it because I’ll just cook for you all the time.”

She laughed and pulled the next item out of the box, a pair of pajamas with Ferris Wheels printed on the fabric.

“In honor of our first kiss,” he supplied.

“Oliver, we’ve been over this before; we didn’t actually kiss on the Ferris Wheel. Tommy called and ruined the moment and then you chickened out.”

“That’s not what I remember happening,” he protested.

“Okay well you remember wrong, because obviously our first kiss was in the kitchen at the B and B while we were making everyone breakfast.”

A look of recognition passed over his face, “Oh yeah, you’re right I remember that now."

She rolled her eyes in amusement, “Yeah. I still love the pajamas though. I will dream of you when I’m all alone in my uncomfortable dorm room bed.”

She pulled out the remaining six presents, a jar of the dry ingredients of his chocolate cake recipe with the recipe affixed to it so she could make her own at school, a frame with the picture that he had sitting on his sofa table of them from the night she had helped at the restaurant, a necklace with a pendant shaped like a map of the US with a heart stamped over Starling City, a soft t-shirt with the logo of the restaurant on it, a beautiful hard-backed copy of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (he had seen the poster she had hanging on her dorm room wall when they had Skyped), and… plane tickets.

“Oliver what are these?” she asked, holding them up.

“Look closely,” he nodded his head at them.

Reading over them, she realized that they weren’t real, “One roundtrip flight between Cambridge, MA and Starling on the Queen Family jet whenever Ms. Smoak is so inclined.”

“I know school keeps you busy but… maybe let’s not go a whole semester without at least seeing each other for a weekend here or there?” he explained. “It’s so hard for me to be that far away from the restaurant or else I would come to you but—“

“But it looks like I’ll be paying you a few visits,” she finished, a grin on her face. “A little extra motivation to get my homework done ahead of time is never a bad thing. Thank you. See you did end up getting me the best present, more time with—“ She was cut off by a yawn cracking across her face and he scooped her up to carry her to bed to end what had been a very perfect day.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews literally make my day, I love to hear what you guys think! Also feel free to come chat with me over on tumblr mogirl97.tumblr.com or twitter @mogirl97 :) I'll be updating this story once a week, on Sundays. 
> 
> ~Morgan


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